An Introduction to the History and Sources of Jewish Law

Jewish law has a history stretching from the early period to the modern State of Israel, encompassing the Talmud, Geonic and later codifications, the Spanish Golden Age, medieval and modern response, the Holocaust and modern reforms. This volume studies 15 distinct periods of Jewish law, emphasizing the development of the institutions and sources of the law. Each chapter provides the political background of the period in question, the nature of Jewish judicial autonomy, the character (literary and legal) of the sources, the legal practice of the period, its principal authorities, and examples of characteristic features of the substantive law (especially in family law).