Description
The subject of this book is the analysis of the meaning of halakhic loyalty. Two fundamental questions are at its center: First, whether religious loyalty is exclusive and requires the faithful to abandon his other obligations, or is not exclusive and the faithful can or even must maintain his other loyalties. Through this question there is a re-analysis of the relationship between the halakhic system and other value systems and norms. The second question is whether religious loyalty means giving up autonomous judgment. This question focuses on the human figure committed to halakhah – is it up to him to be obedient or to shape the world as a sovereign who should not give up his existence as an autonomous subject? These questions are preceded by the author’s analysis of the concept of loyalty. This analysis guides the whole discussion and helps to examine the fundamental questions of loyalty and to discuss both major halakhic issues and the status of various halakhic authorities. The overall discussion leads to the conclusion that religious loyalty is consistent with openness, founded on loyalty itself.
The book is a further step in the work of Sagi in the philosophy of halakhah and joins his earlier books in this field, including “The Open Canon, On the Meaning of Halakhic Discourse”; and “Judaism Between Religion and Ethics”.