“They come against them with the power of the Torah”: rabbinic reflections on legal fiction and legal agency

Abstract

Although rabbinic literature is often divided into the “legal” and the “homiletical,” material classified under the latter category includes many important reflections on law and on legal action. This chapter centers on an extended passage in the homiletical work Leviticus Rabba. I argue that the passage conveys an implicit awareness of the dynamics of legal fiction and legal agency in the face of an unjust law.

Citation

Novick, T. (2009), "“They come against them with the power of the Torah”: rabbinic reflections on legal fiction and legal agency", Sarat, A. (Ed.) Studies in Law, Politics and Society (Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 50), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-4337(2009)0000050004