Event

Professor Chaim Saiman will be discussing his recently published book, Halakha: The Rabbinic Idea of Law. Though typically translated as "Jewish law," the term halakha is not an easy match for what is usually thought of as law. In his book, Professor Saiman traces how generations of rabbis have used concepts forged in talmudic disputation to do the work that other societies assign not only to philosophy, political theory, theology, and ethics but also to art, drama, and literature. Guiding readers across two millenia of richly illuminating perspectives, this book shows how halakha is not just "law," but an entire way of thinking, being, and knowing.  

Prof. Saiman is Penn’s Gruss Professor of Talmudic Law. He is a Villanova Law School Professor.

Light refreshments will be served. 

Sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program Meltzer Internship Program (organized by undergraduate Shoshana Weintraub)