Chapters in the Formative History of Judaism: More Questions and Answers

This collection of ten essays and five book reviews draws on three years of work, from late 2005 through mid-2008. It begins with two Halakhic essays, one on the category-formations of the Halakhah and how to account for the ones that we do not have but ought to have anticipated. The argument proceeds to another way of formulating the historical problem of the Talmud, its roots in Scripture. This is followed by an account of how the Halakhah actualizes the Torah's narrative.
Also included are four essays on Classical Judaism and two literary studies, which show both old and new engagements. Five book reviews conclude the collection, one of them a review essay, covering Edward Kaplan's two volumes on Abraham J. Heschel.

Jacob Neusner is Distinguished Service Professor of the History and Theology of Judaism and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College.