Eli N. Evans Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Studies with Lynn Kaye, Brandeis University

Confronting Authority In Pursuit of Justice:
Lay People’s Voices in Talmudic Jewish Courts

The Talmud, a foundational text for Jewish law, completed by c. 650 CE in what is now Iraq, recounts thousands of case stories. In a few hundred, lay people make their voices heard in court, using a variety of tactics and arguments when they appear before rabbi-judges. While the Sasanian empire had a legal apparatus, the Jewish population seems to have had self-governing opportunities, with courts of arbitration. This lecture will tell some of these stories, of men and women, some good, some bad, some knowledgeable, some lucky, and explain what purpose these stories serve in an ancient corpus of law. The topics range from disputes over claiming abandoned land to arguments over inheritance, from tricky divorces to compensation for assaults, injury, and theft. The stories dramatize how ordinary people navigate the unfamiliar terrain of law courts, as they try to find justice.

Lynn Kaye is an Associate Professor of Rabbinic Literature and Thought in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University.