Early history of Judaism in Canaan

Introduction

Jewish criminal justice is derived ultimately from God's covenant, as articulated in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Jewish civil law developed to deter, halt, or compensate for much of the same illegal behavior that modern criminal law usually proscribes, though its remedies are often not as harsh. Thomas Cahill maintains, “For better or worse, the role of the West in humanity's history is singular. Because of this, the role of the Jews, the inventors of Western culture, is also singular … this race of wanderers who are the progenitors for the Western world” (1998: 3-4). According to Cahill, the integrated view of law and many of its procedures would not have emerged in the West and elsewhere without Jewish antecedents. By contrast, another Christian observer, Martin J. Buss, argues, “Should value [in Israelite law] appear only in its uniqueness, perhaps no value at all would appear in it, since every element seems to be paralleled somewhere in the world. The value of Torah must rather lie in its wisdom; that may mean, in some cases, the absence of erratic features”. Whether Judaic law was the direct ancestor of modern legal views or simply developed approaches typical of developing societies, it was an important precursor of contemporary criminal law and deserves study (Hecht, 20).

Discussion and Analysis

Historical Background

Jewish conceptions of crime and punishment have varied historically. The earliest traditions found in the written Bible are called Israelite law. Formalized law developed during the Second (Solomon's) Temple Period (515 BCE-70 CE), which resulted from the reestablishment of relatively autonomous Jewish institutions the Persians permitted under Ezra and Nehemia. Various interpretations have evolved since the Diaspora from 70 CE. Written rules have been the dominant approach of Jewish law since that time. Though particular Jewish communities had autonomy in the ghettos in which they usually lived, either by fiat or by choice, in cities under Christian or Muslim rule, criminal laws of the state of the majority usually applied to Jews residing there (Hecht, 20).

In most of the world, the most common form of Judaism is Orthodox. Rabbinic Judaism emerged after the first destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the Babylonian exile. Its notion of “the way,” or the written Halakah, has been synonymous with Orthodox Judaism. Modern orthodoxy follows rabbinic traditions, including subservience to religious courts. Generally, this applies only to religious conflicts, as the courts of modern states in which Jews reside retain their sovereignty over all criminal issues.

Judaic criminal justice no longer applies even in Israel. However, issues of personal status, such as marriage and divorce, are under the exclusive jurisdiction of rabbinic courts in Israel. Other personal matters are adjudicated in both rabbinic and secular courts, or the latter apply Jewish law. As a homeland state for Jews, Israel has its own political dynamics, which involve citizens who are not Orthodox Jews, and secular concerns affecting public criminal law. Many had expected that Jewish law would provide the law for any Jewish ...