Halakhah, Philosophy and Mysticism: Interactions and Tensions

Catalog description

Traditional Judaism comprehends two disparate elements: Law and Sprituality. These recalcitrant movements complement and invigorate one another. While, in the pre-modern world, the Legal component of Judaism was both stable and consistent, its sources of spiritual inspiration were broadly divided between Rationalism and Mysticism. These, in turn, sought to infuse observance of the Law with both meaning and telos. The result was an ongoing tension between them, whenever ideological aims diverged from the formal upshot of Legal analysis. This course examines and characterizes the interactions between Law and different schools of Philosophy and Mysticism, in the medieval era (850-1650 CE). Among the issues addressed are: The Halakhic Process, The Role of Axiological Factors in Halakhic Decision-making, the Character of Jewish Philosophy (Kalamist, Neo-Platonic and Aristotelian), Philosophy and Law, the Search for Reasons for the Commandments, The Nature of the Mystical Search, The Law as a Divine Emanation and its Impact on the Commandments, The Lurianic Revolution and its Impact.