Sh'ma: The Law of the Land is the Law

by David Zwiebel, Benjamin Gluck, Matthias B. Lehmann

This Sh’ma issue includes an array of voices — experts in civil and religious law, community leaders, and others — that will help the wider community understand the complexities of this intersection of secular and religious law, and how this nexus sheds light on the chilling events of the past year. The issue explores the rabbinic dictum “The law of the land is the law” and what it has meant and continues to mean for those who feel bound by Jewish law. To what extent does this dictum resonate, and how are we to understand its impact — or, for that matter, its lack of impact — in the wake of a series of highly public, searingly disturbing fiscal and ethical scandals linked intimately to Orthodox sectors of Jewish life?

36 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2009