IMC 2014: Sessions
Session 838: Medieval Minhag and Jewish Legal History
Tuesday 8 July 2014, 16.30-18.00
| Organiser: | Pinchas Roth, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Talya Fishman, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania |
| Paper 838-a | Between Public and Private, Custom and Law: Marriage Negotiations in Medieval Ashkenaz (Language: English) Index terms: Canon Law, Hebrew and Jewish Studies |
| Paper 838-b | Custom, Law, and Customary Law: Local Legislation as Religious Observance (Language: English) Index terms: Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Law |
| Paper 838-c | Minhag, Responsa, and Jewish Regional Identity in the 13th Century (Language: English) Index terms: Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Law |
| Abstract | The boundaries between law and custom are notoriously blurred, and this is especially true in Halakhah, Jewish law, where sources of authority are diffuse and often unidentifiable. Many important Halakhic discussions arise from contradictions, real or perceived, between codified law and popular custom. Religious rituals with legal significance, such as weddings, are particularly fertile ground for interaction and tension between Halakhah and Minhag (religious custom). More than just custom, the term Minhag can also be used to refer to local observance in non-ritual matters. Thus the realm of Minhag can be more malleable and more open to local variations, and the collection and study of minhagim has always played a role in the development and demarcation of Jewish regional identities. This session will consider case studies of this interaction between law and custom in medieval Europe and their implications for the nature of the legal and the self-perception of medieval Jewish communities and Halakhists. |