Customer Reviews

The Scepter Shall Not Depart from Judah

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Much of this little book focuses on the proper source of power: does legitimacy come from covenant or tradition? Mittelman analyzes Jewish texts on both sides of the dispute, and suggests that both are relevant.

In addition to discussing modern political theorists, Mittelman also discusses classical Jewish commentators' attitudes towards individualism and communitarianism; generally, the Talmud and medieval commentators tend to favor balancing rather than extreme positions on one side or the other. For example, the sages ask who should pay the most when a city levies taxes for a wall to protect against invaders: all citizens equally? the rich? or the citizens who live nearest the wall (who presumably benefit more than those who live in the core of town?) The dominant view, according to Mittelman, is "a poor man at the edge of town pays more than a poor man downtown, a rich man at the edge of town pays more than a rich man downtown, but a rich man, regardless of location, will always pay more than a poor man." Clearly, our sages of blessed memory were not libertarians.