Lorberbaum, Yair
Senior Fellow: January–February 2024
Research Project: Scepticism in Halakhah: Searching for Reasons for the Mitzvoth and Halakhot
The research project deals with scepticism in halakhah. Scepticism is connected to various issues in jurisprudence in general and in halakhah in particular. The research focus will be on scepticism about the human ability to discover the reasons for the commandments. This form of scepticism does not appear in the legal and halakhic discourse of Biblical, Second Temple, and Talmudic literature. Yet it is expressed by halakhists and thinkers from the late Middle Ages onwards. It should be emphasized that the need to decipher the reasons for the commandments is relevant not only for intellectual but also for religious purposes, as well as for the halakhic application of the law. In a recent article, Lorberbaum distinguishes four types of reservations about the human claim to understand the reasons behind the commandments: “halakhic religiosity of mystery and transcendence,” “halakhic religiosity of obedience and servitude,” “theistic voluntarism,” and “jurisprudence of rules.” Some of these reservations are connected to a form of scepticism about the human ability to discover the reasons for divine laws.
The work during the research stay at the MCAS will aim to study the sceptical features underlying these reservations, and to understand their impact on halakhic life and discourse. Four outstanding halakhists will be given particular attention: Maimonides, R. Shlomo b. Adret, R. Yosef Karo, R. Moshe Sofer.
Yair Lorberbaum is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University,