R. Hayyim Soloveitchik and Academic Talmudic Hermeneutics

This article offers a detailed description of R. Hayyim Soloveitchik’s commentary on the Talmudic discussions about the requirement for proper intention when making Jewish ritual objects, i.e., Sefer Torah, Mezuzah, etc., and a comparison to the academic commentary on that issue. It describes the relationship between the two genres of commentary, academic and rabbinic, and illustrates the differences and similarities between the commentaries of these two parallel interpretive communities. In this way, the paper sheds new light on the character of R. Hayyim as a Talmudic commentator

Epistemology · Hermeneutics · History of religions · Jewish studies · Judaism · Sociology · Talmud · Theology · Torah · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Classics · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy