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History, Theory, and Jewish Tort Law: Sinai and Shmueli's Maimonides and Contemporary Tort Theory

2022; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.2139/ssrn.4206418

1556-5068

David Schorr,

International Law and Human Rights

Maimonides is generally acclaimed as the most illustrious Jewish philosopher and legal codifier. Now comes Sinai and Shmueli's ambitious book, arguing that the great sage deserves a place at the table of tort theorists as well. Analyzing not only the legal rules of the Book of Torts (Nezikin) in Maimonides's Mishneh Torah (Code) but also his more theoretical treatment of liability in The Guide of the Perplexed, the authors argue that Maimonides presents a coherent and comprehensive theory of tort liability, largely based on considerations familiar to students of contemporary tort scholarship. The arguments are presented clearly, logically, and comprehensively, with the necessary terms of art, from the fields of Jewish law and tort theory alike, lucidly explained. While the book, as noted earlier, is best classified as tort theory, not legal history, it nonetheless touches on a number of issues relevant to the history of tort law that might prove fruitful avenues for further research, some of which I briefly raise here.This is a draft - comments are welcome.