A Jewish Constitution

16 Pages Posted: 24 Apr 2015 Last revised: 14 Jun 2015

Date Written: April 22, 2015

Abstract

A constitution based on principles of Jewish law would ideally be the Torah. In a less ideal world Jewish law recognizes the power of secular authorities to regulate social order with limited if any rabbinic oversight. If secular authorities chose to adopt principles of Jewish law as their guide, the law would promote more cooperation and less competition, and where disputes arise, more compromise and less contention, greater attention to the particulars of a case and the needs of the people involved and less focus on rules of general application. The key ideas that all people are created in the image of God and the duty to love one's fellow would encourage a world of loving-kindness.

Keywords: Jewish law, Talmud, Torts, Eye-for-an-eye, Freedom of religion

Suggested Citation

Friedell, Steven F., A Jewish Constitution (April 22, 2015). Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2597654 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2597654

Steven F. Friedell (Contact Author)

Rutgers Law School ( email )

Newark, NJ
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
89
Abstract Views
576
Rank
516,629
PlumX Metrics