Event
Did Maimonides Consider ‘Decrees of Scripture’ Irrational or Rational?
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 19:30
Moot Court, Chancellor Day Hall, Moot Court, Chancellor Day Hall, McGill Faculty of Law , 3644 Peel Street, CA
‘Decree of Scripture’ (gezerat ha-katuv) is a salient concept in Jewish law (halakhah). Some of the Rabbis understand a commandment which is labeled gezerat hakatuv as arbitrary and a-rational (or irrational), i.e., as stemming from God’s ultimate free will. How did Maimonides - the most important Jewish philosopher and an extreme rationalist, who insisted that all the commandments have reasons - understand this concept? How did Maimonides, the most important halakhist in the Jewish tradition, use gezerat hakatuv in his halakhic writing? This question touches on both the issue of the consistency of Maimonides' thought, as well as on his view regarding the rationality of the Law and the limits of that rationality.
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