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Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <h-rev...@lists.h-net.org> > Date: March 30, 2020 at 3:00:00 AM EDT > To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > Cc: H-Net Staff <revh...@mail.h-net.org> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Judaic]: Herman on Levine, 'Jewish Law and American > Law: A Comparative Study, Volume 2' and Levine, 'Jewish Law and American Law: > A Comparative Study, Volume 1' > Reply-To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > > Samuel J. Levine. Jewish Law and American Law: A Comparative Study, > Volume 2. New York Touro College Press, 2018. 238 pp. $109.00 > (cloth), ISBN 978-1-61811-657-4. > > Samuel J. Levine. Jewish Law and American Law: A Comparative Study, > Volume 1. New York Touro College Press, 2018. 384 pp. $109.00 > (cloth), ISBN 978-1-61811-655-0. > > Reviewed by Marc Herman (Yale) > Published on H-Judaic (March, 2020) > Commissioned by Barbara Krawcowicz > > Jewish Law and American Law: A Comparative Study collects twenty-six > essays by Samuel J. Levine--all previously published--on an > impressive array of topics that fall under the broad headings of the > Jewish and American legal traditions and, frequently, the > interrelationship between the two. Each chapter displays Levine's > mastery of both legal corpora, through clear arguments and copious > documentation of primary sources and secondary literature in both > Jewish and American law. The work is divided into eight topically > arranged sections; the essays address such diverse subjects as > Holocaust-era responsa, prosecutorial ethics, and the possible > contributions of Jewish hermeneutics to American constitutional > jurisprudence. The subjects of some of the essays overlap and > chapters can often be read together fruitfully (e.g., chapters 2 and > 3, "An Introduction to Interpretation in Jewish Law, with References > to American Legal Theory," and "An Introduction to Legislation in > Jewish Law, with References to the American Legal System"). Other > essays stand on their own, such as chapter 22, which analyzes Goldman > v. Weinberger (1986), when the US Supreme Court evaluated the > propriety of an Air Force psychologist wearing a skullcap in a > military hospital, and chapter 19, which traces the history of an > antisemitic legend in legal writing, from its appearance in a > nineteenth-century Irish periodical to an early twentieth-century > American textbook. > > In the programmatic essays in these volumes, Levine articulates--with > impressive force--the idea that the Jewish legal tradition has a > great deal to add to contemporary American legal thought. This > position also underlies Levine's discussions of three themes: the > ethical and legal values that inform debates about capital punishment > (section 2); the constitutional protections against > self-incrimination (section 3, where Levine explicates and > interrogates Chief Justice Earl Warren's citation of Moses Maimonides > and other Jewish thinkers); and methodological considerations in > constitutional interpretation (section 5). Levine, however, does not > explain precisely why Jewish law is better able to contribute to > American jurisprudence than other religious legal traditions, such as > Islamic law or Hindu law, nor does he explore, except in passing, if > or how American law might help researchers reconsider ideas penned by > Jewish jurists. And when Jewish law is disappointingly silent on > central problems that Levine seeks to tackle, he turns to broad and > often vague ethical exhortations of the Jewish tradition (e.g., his > discussion of the ethical demands placed on American lawyers is > informed by a sweeping call to realize Jewish ethics in all aspects > of daily life; vol. 1, p. 233). > > Levine explicitly participates in a larger discourse within the legal > academy that looks to Robert Cover (1943-86) as its pioneer. Rather > than methodological innovation, then, Levine's strength is his deep > engagement with Jewish legal sources and their long history of > interpretation. Writing about capital punishment, Levine explains: > "It is not uncommon to find both proponents and opponents of the > death penalty attempting to support their respective positions > through citations of sources in Jewish law. Such attempts, however, > often fail to consider the full range of Jewish legal scholarship, > relying on a few sources that appear, superficially, to favor one > position over the other" (vol. 1, p. 85). Levine instead provides a > richer--albeit terse--account of Jewish perspectives on capital > punishment. (I am not sure, however, how Levine knows that the > mishnaic voices opposing the death penalty "did not represent the > opinions of the majority of mainstream Jewish legal authorities"; > vol. 1, p. 93.) > > Readers should be cautious in using Levine's presentations as > critical summaries of Jewish law. First, Levine's sources and > interpretations place him squarely within contemporary American > Orthodox Judaism. Thus, citations of rabbis Joseph B. Soloveitchik > (1903-93), Aaron Lichtenstein (1933-2015), J. D. Bleich (b. 1936), > Herschel Schachter (b. 1941), and Asher Weiss (b. 1953) populate the > pages of these volumes. Soloveitchik in particular features > prominently in Levine's discussion of capital punishment (vol 1, pp. > 112-20), his treatment of Robert Cover (vol. 2, pp. 25-28), and his > attempts to derive lessons from the biblical Abraham to the > contemporary Jewish community's approach to public policy (vol. 2, > pp. 175-79) But Levine seldom discusses the modern inputs that helped > shape Soloveitchik's presentations of Jewish tradition. Moreover, > since, with one exception, these figures are associated with the same > institution, it is fair to ask why Levine does not really engage with > other approaches to Jewish law that have developed in the twentieth > and twenty-first centuries. (Similarly, Levine's transliteration > system is not one used in academic writings today but instead largely > reflects the approach of contemporary Orthodox Jewish publications.) > > Second, Levine takes a positivist approach to Jewish sources. His > discussion of the Sanhedrin, for example, takes the existence and > nature of that institution at face value (vol 1, p. 55), and he twice > repeats the idea that Jewish law is comprised of 613 commandments > (vol. 1, pp. 166, 344), a principle that played little role in legal > discussions of the Talmud itself, at the very least. These > assertions, although grounded in Jewish tradition, cannot be repeated > in a university classroom without significant caveats. In these and > other instances it seems that the setting of the legal academy has > enabled Levine to circumvent historical questions. > > Third, and this is a related but deeper issue, Levine has little time > for critical approaches to Jewish law or for academic study of the > Talmud. Although he mentions the contemporary scholar of midrash > David Stern (vol. 2, p. 21) and has an essay about Cover's work > (chapter 17), Levine expresses scant interest in Jewish studies as it > is currently conceived or in the historical study of Jewish law. The > choice to disengage from these larger scholarly endeavors, > unfortunately, means that the insights of the legal academy will > remain estranged from historical and social scientific inquiry. It is > also something of a lost opportunity; Levine's insights into how the > modern experienced has shaped Jewish law and what the American legal > tradition might contribute to contemporary Jewish legal discourse > would be truly enlightening. > > Taken together, the essays in these volumes constitute a salutary > effort to investigate a wide range of topics in Jewish law, modern > legal history, and American jurisprudence through the lens of Jewish > law. Readers will find that these illuminating essays provide an > in-depth account of the issues at hand. > > _Marc Herman is a research fellow at the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for > the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization, Yale Law School._ > > Citation: Marc Herman. Review of Levine, Samuel J., _Jewish Law and > American Law: A Comparative Study, Volume 2_ and > Levine, Samuel J., _Jewish Law and American Law: A Comparative Study, > Volume 1_. H-Judaic, H-Net Reviews. March, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54769 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
