The Horizontal Society: Understanding the Covenant and Alphabetic Judaism (Vol. I and II)

Jose Faur

Published by Academic Studies Press 2010

The Horizontal Society

Understanding the Covenant and Alphabetic Judaism (Vol. I and II)

Jose Faur

In the series Emunot: Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781618110992

Overview
Contents

About this book

The Horizontal Society is an exposition of rabbinic thought as exemplified by Maimonides. The thought streams of Greece, Rome, and Christendom serve as a contrast. This work is in the Hebrew rhetorical tradition of melisa. The main text in five sections-—The God of Israel, The Books of Israel, The Governance of Israel, The Memory of Israel, and The Folly of Israel—focuses on these core matters. It includes numerous references to orient the reader. The mode is similar to the author's previous work, such as Golden Doves with Silver Dots: Semiotics and Textuality in Rabbinic Tradition, interacting with the latest thought from today's academy. This book illustrates the horizontal organization of the Jewish people. Other social organization is based on hierarchy. Two principles made this difference possible for Israel. First, the Hebrew Scriptures alone propose that every human being is created in the image of God.This necessitates the absolute equality of every human being. Second, the Sinai covenant establishes the Law as the supreme authority. Whereas in other societies, might is the source of authority, in Judaism authority is limited by the Law. These principles were summarized by the last Prophet of Israel: "Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously…, profaning the covenant of our fathers?" (Mal 2:10). There is a subdivided bibliography of forty pages, including both Jewish and "Western" sources. The scholarly apparatus includes indices of terms, names, and subjects. There are also seventy appendices of interest to rabbinic readership.

Author / Editor information

José Faur (PhD 1964, University of Barcelona) is Professor Emeritus, Law School, Netanya Academic College, Netanya, Israel. He was the first Jewish recipient of a doctorate from the University of Barcelona since the Expulsion in 1492. He has taught at JTS and Bar-Ilan University and published in Hebrew, Spanish, French, Italian and English. His books include: Golden Doves with Silver Dots: Semiotics and Textuality in Rabbinic Tradition (Indiana UP, 1986); In the Shadow of History: Iberian Jews and Conversos at the Dawn of Modernity (SUNY, 1992); Homo Mysticus: A Guide To Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed (Syracuse UP, 1998).

Reviews

Thierry Alcoloumbre:
"[Faur is] a great specialist in Talmudic literature in whom we can see a scholarship of the same caliber as Saul Lieberman or David Weiss Halivni."

David Sasha, Director of the Center for Sephardic Heritage in Brooklyn, New York:
"An extraordinary synthesis of his three previous English-language works, particularly his groundbreaking study Golden Doves with Silver Dots… It is the indispensable concept of Religious Humanism that has served as the central theme of Jose Faur’s many writings and in The Horizontal Society he gives the reader the summa of his thinking on the subject, thus offering the most illuminating introduction to Jewish civilization that we currently possess."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Hebrew Transliteration Table Publicly Available Download PDF	xiv
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xiv
Prologue Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Volume I
Section I. THE GOD OF ISRAEL
Introductory Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
1. The Book of Creation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	8
2. Monolingualism and the Analphabetic Mind Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
3. God as a Writer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	20
4. Of Scribes and Analphabetic Poets Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
Concluding Reflections Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
Section II. THE BOOKS OF ISRAEL
Introductory Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
5. The Berit (‘Covenant’) Sinai-Moab Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	48
6. Scripture and the Mental Law of Israel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	54
7. The Publication of Scripture Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
8. Epistles and Memoranda Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
9. Interpreting the Books of Israel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
10. Law and the Judiciary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
11. The Boundaries of Derasha Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
Concluding Reflections Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
Section III. THE GOVERNANCE OF ISRAEL
Introductory Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
12. Of Ḥerut Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
13. Hierarchic Humanity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
14. Horizontal Man Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	106
15. The Household of Israel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
16. Humanity before Statehood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
17. God’s Territory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
18. The Three Crowns of Israel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
19. Hebrew Theocracy: Sovereignty under the Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
20. The Crown of a Good Name Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
21. Galut: Right without Might Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	138
22. Jewish Dominion over the Land of Israel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
23. Pagan Political Thought Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
24. A Perfect Tora Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
25. The Five Doctrines Taught by Patriarch Abraham Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
26. The Two-Realm Governance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
27. Silencing Scripture Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	166
28. The Road to Serfdom: Freedom without Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
29. Paul’s Theo-politics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
30. Escape from Guilt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	182
31. Imperial Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
32. The Political Dimension of Anti-Semitism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	190
33. Two Concepts of Human Rights Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	194
34. Pax Romana and Pax Hebraica Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	198
35. The Sabbath is the Lord’s Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202
36. Separating Church from State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	204
Concluding Reflections Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	212
Section IV. THE MEMORY OF ISRAEL
Introductory Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
37. National Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
38. The Matrix of Jewish Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	230
39. Walking Under the Fox’s Shadow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	238
40. The Emergence of the Sword/Cross Axis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
41. A Crisis of Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
42. Unmasking Spurious Verus Israel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254
43. The Publication of the Mishna Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259
44. Minting Tradition into Oral Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	264
45. National and Vernacular Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	272
46. Meliṣa and the Realm of the Verisimilar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
47. Expanding National Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	287
48. Kalla and the Formation of the Babylonian Talmud Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	292
Concluding Reflections Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299
Section V. THE FOLLY OF ISRAEL
Introductory Remarks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303
49. Qabbala and the Conveyence of Talmudic Tradition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	308
50. “Little Foxes” — Rabbis without Qabbala Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	314
51. The Day of the Willow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	324
52. The Genesis of Jewish Heroic Virtue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
53. Heroic Knowledge Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341
54. Payback Time — the Case of the Catalonian Rabbis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	346
55. “Our Lords, the Rabbis of France” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	349
56. Fighting Assimilation? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	353
57. Kabbalah vs. Qabbala Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	362
58. Cult of the Occult Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	373
59. The anti-Scientific Obstinacy of the Maimonideans Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	378
60. The Five Pillars of Anti-Maimonidean Kabbalah Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	385
61. The Problem with ‘Philosophy’ … Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	393
62. A Reflective Response to R. Hayye Gaon’s Call Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	400
63. The Mishne Tora Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	406
64. Hierarchic Truth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	415
65. The Inerrant Saint Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	419
66. Israel’s Fourth Miracle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	427
Concluding Reflections Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	431
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	434
Front Matter 2 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	437
APPENDICES
1. Vocalization of the Scroll of the Tora Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	439
2. Hebrew ‘Writing’ and ‘Reading’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	441
3. Alphabetization and Masora Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	444
4. Precept, Monolatry, and Sanctity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	444
5. Defilement of the Hands Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	450
6. ‘Depositing a Text’ for Publication Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	453
7. An Academy to Police the Hebrew Language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	454
8. Reciting a Text for Publication Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	456
9. Wearing Phylacteries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	456
10. The Autonomy of the Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	462
11. Alien Cult Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	468
12. Morasha Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	470
13. Becoming a Single Body Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	473
14. Gideon and Washington Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	473
15. The Concept of Galut Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	474
16. By Virtue of Conquest Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	475
17. Private Property Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	478
18. Equality before the Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	479
19. Ṭ'M Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	481
20. Malicious Erudition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	481
21. Why we should all strive to be Illiterate Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	484
22. Purloining an Ass for Christ: Freedom without Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	485
23. Ingesting Jesus Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	487
24. Extreme Dichotomy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	488
25. Erasing the Memory of ‘Amaleq Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	489
26. ‘Prophets/Scribes’ and the National Archives of Israel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	491
27. Yeshiba Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	492
28. Perush, Be’ur, and Peshaṭ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	493
29. Pappus b. Judah Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	495
30. Verus Israel? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	495
31. Remez Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	497
32. Qabbala and Halakha Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	500
33. Halakha le-Moshe mi-Sinai Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	504
34. Derekh Qeṣara Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	506
35. God’s Mystery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	507
36. Seder Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	508
37. The Four Levels of Instruction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	509
38. Teaching Tora in Public Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	510
39. Shone: Rehearsing and Conveying Halakha Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	511
40. Megillat Setarim Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	511
41. The Publication of Oral Texts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	512
42. TQN Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	515
43. The Introduction of the Monetary System in Rabbinic Tradition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	516
44. Oral Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	517
45. Writing the Oral Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	518
46. Was there a ‘Dispensation’ to write the Oral Law? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	530
47. Hebrew ḥibber and Arabic tadwin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	533
48. Gemara and Talmud Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	534
49. Emora Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	545
50. National Publication for Use in Constitutional Interpretation: the Jewish and the US Systems Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	548
51. Tanya Kevatteh Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	549
52. Leaning Towards the Majority Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	550
53. Mahdora Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	553
54. “Little Foxes” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	554
55. Minim and Minut Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	555
56. Tukku Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	558
57. About “Strict Talmudists” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	559
58. Semantic Assimilation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	563
59. Heroes and Heroism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	568
60. Ḥasid and Ḥasidut Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	571
61. The Targum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	581
62. Writing a Sefer Tora Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	586
63. The Sorrowful Scholarship of Professor Baer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	587
64. Medieval Jewish Prophets Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	589
65. The Science of Necromancy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	589
66. The Mandate of the Jewish Court According to Ramban Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	592
67. The Ministry of Luminous Rabbis: Unerring and Inerrable Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	592
68. Settled Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	598
69. Relying on Legal Sources and Authorities Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	599
70. The Library of Lucena Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	603
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	604
INDICES
Index of References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	635
Index of Subjects Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	648
Index of Names Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	663
Index of Terms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	667

Language: English
Publisher: Academic Studies Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 676

eBook

Published: January 1, 2010
ISBN: 9781618110992