Language:
English
Year of publication:
2023
Titel der Quelle:
European Judaism
Angaben zur Quelle:
56,2 (2023) 63-74
Keywords:
Ibn Ḥabib, Jacob ben Solomon, Criticism and interpretation
;
Mizraḥi, Elijah, Criticism and interpretation
;
Levirate (Jewish law)
Abstract:
This article focuses on a rabbinic controversy between the Greek Jewish scholar Elijah Mizrah.i and his Iberian colleague Jacob Ibn Ḥabib in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The case at hand concerned specific legal questions regarding levirate marriage. These had become particularly difficult with the involvement of converts, posing fundamental questions about Jewish group affiliation. Analysing the related but contrasting legal opinions of Mizrah.i and Ibn Ḥabib, I suggest distinguishing between an intellectual approach and a traditionalist approach to answering these questions. Whereas earlier scholarship has attributed the scholars’ diverging conclusions mainly to their different cultural backgrounds, I argue that Mizraḥi and Ibn Ḥabib chose different lines of reasoning for strategic reasons, grounded in their particular political situations.
DOI:
10.3167/ej.2023.560207
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink