by Moshe Halbertal
SBL Press, 2020
eISBN: 978-1-951498-77-1 | Cloth: 978-1-951498-76-4 | Paper: 978-1-951498-75-7
Library of Congress Classification BM496.6
Dewey Decimal Classification 296.18

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK

A systematic attempt to understand the rabbinic world through its approach to confronting uncertainty



In the history of halakhah, the treatment of uncertainty became one of the most complex fields of intense study. In his latest book, Moshe Halbertal focuses on examining the point of origin of the study of uncertainty in early rabbinic literature, including the Mishnah, Tosefta, and halakhic midrashim. Halbertal explores instructions concerning how to behave in situations of uncertainty ranging from matters of ritual purity, to lineage and marriage, to monetary law, and to the laws of forbidden foods. This examination of the rules of uncertainty introduced in early rabbinic literature reveals that these rules were not aimed at avoiding but rather at dwelling in the midst of uncertainty, thus rejecting the sectarian isolationism that sought to minimize a community’s experience of and friction with uncertainty.



Features:


  • A thorough investigation of the principles concerning how to behave in cases of uncertainty

  • An examination of two distinct modes for coping with uncertainty

See other books on: Birth | Interpretation and construction | Sacred Writings | Talmud | Uncertainty
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