Israeli Law and Jewish Law in Israel: A Zero Sum Game?

Stern, Yedidia Z.

doi:10.1017/9781316599969.005

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2020

Publication Types

Select...

Other3

Book2

Relationship

Self Cite0

Independent5

Authors

Journals

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

The Invention of Jewish Theocracy

Kaye¹

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Invention of Jewish Theocracy is about Jewish religious approaches to law and politics in the State of Israel. It uncovers the forgotten history of religious Zionists who tried to create a “halakhic state” by making traditional Jewish law (halakha) into Israel’s official law. This endeavour brought about a conflict over Israel’s legal framework with the majority of Israeli Jews who wanted Israel to be a secular democracy. This struggle over legal authority became the backdrop for a pervasive culture war, whose consequences are felt throughout Israeli society until today. It has also shaped religious attitudes to many aspects of Israeli society and politics, created an ongoing antagonism with the state’s civil courts, and led to the creation of a new and increasingly powerful state rabbinate. The book uncovers the surprising truth, which runs counter to the common understanding, that the religious Zionist ideology of legal supremacy emerged no earlier than the middle of the twentieth century. Even more notably, the book shows that, far from being endemic to Jewish religious tradition as its proponents claim, the idea of the halakhic state borrows heavily from modern European jurisprudence.

show abstract