Topics in Jewish Law

With LAW-LW.11119.001. The seminar will deal with obligations to others in Jewish Law, such as charity, saving life and different domains of care for others. We will examine biblical, Talmudic and later materials in Jewish Law, that deal with the following questions: Who is the poor and how does Jewish law define needs and deprivation, and what is the hierarchy of needs? How does Jewish law deal with the risk of humiliation which is inherent in the act of accepting help? What are the limits of sacrificing for others? Do we give what is ours, or does the obligation of giving assumes limitations on ownership? The seminar will examine communal obligations to others as well, such as taxation and organized distribution in the Talmud and Respona literature. The examination of these questions will be done as well from a comparative perspective of approaches to theses problems in ethics, political theory and law.