Maimonides on the "Decline of the Generations" and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority (SUNY Series in Jewish Philosophy) (Suny Series, Jewish Philosophy) [Paperback]

Menachem Marc Kellner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Suny Series, Jewish Philosophy | Publication Date: March 28, 1996

Shows to what extent and in what fashion Jews are bound to accept the opinions and the pronouncements of religious authorities. Moses Maimonides, medieval Judaism's leading legist and philosopher, and a figure of central importance for contemporary Jewish self-understanding, held a view of Judaism which maintained the authority of the Talmudic rabbis in matters of Jewish law while allowing for free and open inquiry in matters of science and philosophy. Maimonides affirmed, not the superiority of the "moderns" (the scholars of his and subsequent generations) over the "ancients" (the Tannaim and Amoraim, the Rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud) but the inherent equality of the two. The equality presented here is not equality of halakhic authority, but equality of ability, of essential human characteristics. In order to substantiate these claims, Kellner explores the related idea that Maimonides does not adopt the notion of "the decline of the generations", according to which each succeeding generation, or each succeeding epoch, is in some significant and religiously relevant sense inferior to preceding generations or epochs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Menachem Kellner teaches medieval Jewish Philosophy in the Department of Jewish History and Thought and is Wolfson Professor of Jewish Thought and is Dean of Students at the University of Haifa. He is the author of Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought; Torat he-Ikkarim ba-Philosophiah ha-Yehudit Bimei ha-Benayim; Maimonides on Human Perfection; and Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish People, also published by SUNY Press. He is translator of Isaac Abravanel's Principles of Faith and Levi ben Gershom's Commentary on Song of Songs; and editor of Contemporary Jewish Ethics; Rosh Amanah; and The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild, also published by SUNY Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (March 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791429229
• ISBN-13: 978-0791429228
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,586,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting, at least if you're not that familiar with the concept, December 1, 2007

By 

Michael Lewyn (Forest Hills, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Maimonides on the "Decline of the Generations" and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority (SUNY Series in Jewish Philosophy) (Suny Series, Jewish Philosophy) (Paperback)

In recent months, I've heard Orthodox acquaintances mention the "decline of the generations" concept, but was not really sure where it originated or what it means. Kellner addresses three issues:

1. What does the concept mean and where did it come from? Some passages in the Talmud refer to the concept; however, the Talmud is not of one mind on this issue. The clearest passages suggest that the scholars of the Talmud's generation (or at least the best scholars) are inferior to the best scholars of earlier generations. Other passages are more ambiguous; some could plausibly be read to expand the concept by referring to all Jews, others could plausibly be read to oppose the concept altogether. (As other reviewers point out, Kellner does not discuss more recent commentators on this issue in great detail).

2. Does Maimonides support the idea of an inevitable decline of the generations? Kellner argues that he does not. Although Maimoinides nowhere directly criticizes the concept, he does express a variety of views that appear at odds with it. According to Kellner, Maimonides suggests that (a) miracles tend to be rare, one-time events; (b) rabbinic statements on non-halakhic matters are fallible; c) Messianic deliverance is likely to come about through apparently natural spiritual progress, rather than through sudden Divine deliverance; and d) the Torah may have mandated animal sacrifice only because Jews were not ready for more refined types of divine service- theories that, to Kellner, seem inconsistent with the concept.

3. If Maimonides rejects this concept, why does he follow halakha? Maimonides explains that at the time of the Mishnah and Talmud, Jewish populations were sufficiently compact that all Israel could agree on the wisdom and validity of these books. Thus, Maimonides sees Jewish law (to the extent the Torah is unclear) as based on consensus. In other words, Jewish law is based on consensus rather than on the early rabbis' innate superiority.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These are the good old days, January 15, 2002

By 

Berel Dov Lerner (Western Galilee College, Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maimonides on the "Decline of the Generations" and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority (S U N Y Series in Jewish Philosophy) (Hardcover)

If you are tired of the over-use of the concept "yeridat hadorot" (decline of the generations) in contemporary Orthodox Jewish thought, this book will arm you for a counter-attack!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book reveals important information, April 30, 2010

By 

Israel Drazin (Boca Raton, Florida) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maimonides on the "Decline of the Generations" and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority (SUNY Series in Jewish Philosophy) (Suny Series, Jewish Philosophy) (Paperback)

Menachem Kellner, in his important and very clearly written book Maimonides on the "Decline of the Generations" and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority, explains that Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) rejected this notion of the decline of the generations out of hand. Maimonides was convinced that the ancient rabbis were ordinary human beings possessing no supernatural intellectual powers and that their decisions were not based on divine revelation. Maimonides recognized the authority of the earlier rabbis and accepted their decisions only because each of their rulings "derives from the role they played in Jewish history." Maimonides was thus expressing the belief that the rabbinic decisions were not correct per se, but, since the majority of Jews had decided to accept the early rabbis' halakhic decisions, they became authoritative.

Kellner compares the ancient rabbis to the eighteenth-century framers of the United States Constitution: "the framers of the US Constitution have a kind of authority which, in normal circumstances, cannot be limited or overturned." Although they were human and did not differ from all other people of their generation or people today, their authority derives from "the system of law accepted in the United States." Thus, the focus is not on the intellectual ability of the framers, but on the practical decision made by American citizens to accept what the framers wrote.

Nevertheless, Maimonides teaches that the acceptance of rabbinical statements applies only to halakhah, rules relating to behavior, but not to rabbinical opinions on non-legal matters. The reason for this conclusion should be obvious. The early rabbis' views usually relied on the science of their times, and these primitive conclusions inevitably led, at times, to error on the part of the rabbis. Therefore, Maimonides insists, one is free to analyze and consider the opinions of the rabbis and then accept, reject, or modify them; in fact, this is the very purpose for which God granted humans intelligence: to study and evaluate.

Maimonides records his assessment of the ancient rabbis and other sages of the historic period in the introduction to his Mishneh Torah. He writes that the legal component of the "Babylonian Talmud is binding on all Israel ... because all the customs, decrees and institutions mentioned in the Talmud received the assent of all Israel." Thus, only the "customs, decrees and institutions," the legal elements, received "the assent of all Israel." However, the non-legal opinions did not receive that assent and thus are not obligatory.