Michael J. Broyde is Professor of Law at Emory University and Director of its Center for the Study of Law and Religion. This book was written while Broyde was a Fulbright Senior Scholar and completed while he was a Visiting Professor of Law at Stanford. In his nearly thirty-year rabbinic career he was the Rabbi of the Young Israel Congregation in Atlanta and the Director of the Beth Din of America.Shlomo C. Pill is Senior Lecturer at Emory Law School and Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, where he is Deputy Director of Law and Judaism and Managing Editor of canopyforum.org. Dr. Pill received his LLM and SJD from Emory Univeristy, JD from Fordham Law School, and rabbinic ordination from Beit Midrash L’Talmud of Lander College.

• Table of ContentsIntroductionPart One: Setting the Table: The Codification of Jewish Law1. Codifying Jewish Law2. Rabbi Yechiel Mikhel Epstein’s Arukh HaShulhan3. Competing Models: The Arukh HaShulhan and Mishnah BerurahPart Two: The Methodological Principles of the Arukh HaShulhanIntroduction4. The Rule of the Talmud5. Rabbinic Consensus6. Resolving Doubtful Cases7. Non-Normative Opinions8. Superogatory Religious Conduct9. Law and Mysticism10. Law and Custom11. Temporal Rationalization of Halakhic Rules12. Law and PragmatismConclusionPart Three: Illustrative Examples from the Arukh HaShulhanThe Arukh HaShulhan’s Methodological Principles for Reaching Halakhic ConclusionsBibliographyIndex

“Broyde and Pill’s book is an immensely informative and illuminating read. By taking a traditional jurist seriously as a legal writer and thinker, they have done a real service, especially to the academic communities of Jewish studies and jurisprudence. If it can help bring these, and other similarly inclined constituencies, into conversation, their work has done more than enough.”— Joshua Schwartz, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Reading Religion“Since the Bible, there are three codes that can lay claim to covering the gamut of Jewish law, including laws whose relevance is dependent on the existence of a Temple in Jerusalem: The third-century redaction of the oral tradition Mishna, Maimonides’s twelfth-century magnum opus Mishne torah, and the comprehensive code penned by Rabbi Yehiel Mikhel Halevi Epstein (1829–1908). … Of the three codes, Epstein’s writings have attracted the least attention… In light of the paucity of research on Epstein’s code, Michael J. Broyde and Shlomo C. Pill have made a significant contribution with their volume Setting the Table. Setting the Table complements other recent efforts to recount Epstein’s biography, explore his literary oeuvre, and plumb his legal writings.”— Levi Cooper, Journal of Law and Religion“In this fascinating work, Broyde and Pill … bring to life the intellectual choices made by the Arukh Hashulkhan, situating their work within the long history of attempts to codify Jewish law. … This is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of rabbinic jurisprudence.”—Suzanne Last Stone, Professor of Law, Cardozo Law School, University Professor of Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, Yeshiva University“Rabbis Broyde and Pill not only analyze the principles used by the author, but they systematically demonstrate how they were applied to specific laws. This work is … valuable both to the outsider and the Talmudic scholar.”—Rabbi Yosef Blau, Senior Mashgiach Ruchani and Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary“Too often, discussions of halakhic methodology proceed from a few high-profile examples. In this exciting new book, Rabbis Broyde and Pill offer an account of how one of the most important poskim of our era functioned both when the social and religious stakes were high and when they were not. This book not only presents a data-based analysis of the Arukh Hashulchan’s decision making, but a set of tools that can be applied to other works to enhance our understanding of the formation of p’sak more broadly.”—Chaim Saiman, Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law & author of Halakha: The Rabbnic Idea of Law (2018)

Michael J. Broyde is Professor of Law at Emory University and Director of its Center for the Study of Law and Religion. This book was written while Broyde was a Fulbright Senior Scholar and completed while he was a Visiting Professor of Law at Stanford. In his nearly thirty-year rabbinic career he was the Rabbi of the Young Israel Congregation in Atlanta and the Director of the Beth Din of America.Shlomo C. Pill is Senior Lecturer at Emory Law School and Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, where he is Deputy Director of Law and Judaism and Managing Editor of canopyforum.org. Dr. Pill received his LLM and SJD from Emory Univeristy, JD from Fordham Law School, and rabbinic ordination from Beit Midrash L’Talmud of Lander College.

• Table of ContentsIntroductionPart One: Setting the Table: The Codification of Jewish Law1. Codifying Jewish Law2. Rabbi Yechiel Mikhel Epstein’s Arukh HaShulhan3. Competing Models: The Arukh HaShulhan and Mishnah BerurahPart Two: The Methodological Principles of the Arukh HaShulhanIntroduction4. The Rule of the Talmud5. Rabbinic Consensus6. Resolving Doubtful Cases7. Non-Normative Opinions8. Superogatory Religious Conduct9. Law and Mysticism10. Law and Custom11. Temporal Rationalization of Halakhic Rules12. Law and PragmatismConclusionPart Three: Illustrative Examples from the Arukh HaShulhanThe Arukh HaShulhan’s Methodological Principles for Reaching Halakhic ConclusionsBibliographyIndex

“Broyde and Pill’s book is an immensely informative and illuminating read. By taking a traditional jurist seriously as a legal writer and thinker, they have done a real service, especially to the academic communities of Jewish studies and jurisprudence. If it can help bring these, and other similarly inclined constituencies, into conversation, their work has done more than enough.”— Joshua Schwartz, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Reading Religion“Since the Bible, there are three codes that can lay claim to covering the gamut of Jewish law, including laws whose relevance is dependent on the existence of a Temple in Jerusalem: The third-century redaction of the oral tradition Mishna, Maimonides’s twelfth-century magnum opus Mishne torah, and the comprehensive code penned by Rabbi Yehiel Mikhel Halevi Epstein (1829–1908). … Of the three codes, Epstein’s writings have attracted the least attention… In light of the paucity of research on Epstein’s code, Michael J. Broyde and Shlomo C. Pill have made a significant contribution with their volume Setting the Table. Setting the Table complements other recent efforts to recount Epstein’s biography, explore his literary oeuvre, and plumb his legal writings.”— Levi Cooper, Journal of Law and Religion“In this fascinating work, Broyde and Pill … bring to life the intellectual choices made by the Arukh Hashulkhan, situating their work within the long history of attempts to codify Jewish law. … This is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of rabbinic jurisprudence.”—Suzanne Last Stone, Professor of Law, Cardozo Law School, University Professor of Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, Yeshiva University“Rabbis Broyde and Pill not only analyze the principles used by the author, but they systematically demonstrate how they were applied to specific laws. This work is … valuable both to the outsider and the Talmudic scholar.”—Rabbi Yosef Blau, Senior Mashgiach Ruchani and Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary“Too often, discussions of halakhic methodology proceed from a few high-profile examples. In this exciting new book, Rabbis Broyde and Pill offer an account of how one of the most important poskim of our era functioned both when the social and religious stakes were high and when they were not. This book not only presents a data-based analysis of the Arukh Hashulchan’s decision making, but a set of tools that can be applied to other works to enhance our understanding of the formation of p’sak more broadly.”—Chaim Saiman, Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law & author of Halakha: The Rabbnic Idea of Law (2018)

Michael J. Broyde is Professor of Law at Emory University and Director of its Center for the Study of Law and Religion. This book was written while Broyde was a Fulbright Senior Scholar and completed while he was a Visiting Professor of Law at Stanford. In his nearly thirty-year rabbinic career he was the Rabbi of the Young Israel Congregation in Atlanta and the Director of the Beth Din of America.Shlomo C. Pill is Senior Lecturer at Emory Law School and Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, where he is Deputy Director of Law and Judaism and Managing Editor of canopyforum.org. Dr. Pill received his LLM and SJD from Emory Univeristy, JD from Fordham Law School, and rabbinic ordination from Beit Midrash L’Talmud of Lander College.

• Table of ContentsIntroductionPart One: Setting the Table: The Codification of Jewish Law1. Codifying Jewish Law2. Rabbi Yechiel Mikhel Epstein’s Arukh HaShulhan3. Competing Models: The Arukh HaShulhan and Mishnah BerurahPart Two: The Methodological Principles of the Arukh HaShulhanIntroduction4. The Rule of the Talmud5. Rabbinic Consensus6. Resolving Doubtful Cases7. Non-Normative Opinions8. Superogatory Religious Conduct9. Law and Mysticism10. Law and Custom11. Temporal Rationalization of Halakhic Rules12. Law and PragmatismConclusionPart Three: Illustrative Examples from the Arukh HaShulhanThe Arukh HaShulhan’s Methodological Principles for Reaching Halakhic ConclusionsBibliographyIndex

“Broyde and Pill’s book is an immensely informative and illuminating read. By taking a traditional jurist seriously as a legal writer and thinker, they have done a real service, especially to the academic communities of Jewish studies and jurisprudence. If it can help bring these, and other similarly inclined constituencies, into conversation, their work has done more than enough.”— Joshua Schwartz, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Reading Religion“Since the Bible, there are three codes that can lay claim to covering the gamut of Jewish law, including laws whose relevance is dependent on the existence of a Temple in Jerusalem: The third-century redaction of the oral tradition Mishna, Maimonides’s twelfth-century magnum opus Mishne torah, and the comprehensive code penned by Rabbi Yehiel Mikhel Halevi Epstein (1829–1908). … Of the three codes, Epstein’s writings have attracted the least attention… In light of the paucity of research on Epstein’s code, Michael J. Broyde and Shlomo C. Pill have made a significant contribution with their volume Setting the Table. Setting the Table complements other recent efforts to recount Epstein’s biography, explore his literary oeuvre, and plumb his legal writings.”— Levi Cooper, Journal of Law and Religion“In this fascinating work, Broyde and Pill … bring to life the intellectual choices made by the Arukh Hashulkhan, situating their work within the long history of attempts to codify Jewish law. … This is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of rabbinic jurisprudence.”—Suzanne Last Stone, Professor of Law, Cardozo Law School, University Professor of Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, Yeshiva University“Rabbis Broyde and Pill not only analyze the principles used by the author, but they systematically demonstrate how they were applied to specific laws. This work is … valuable both to the outsider and the Talmudic scholar.”—Rabbi Yosef Blau, Senior Mashgiach Ruchani and Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary“Too often, discussions of halakhic methodology proceed from a few high-profile examples. In this exciting new book, Rabbis Broyde and Pill offer an account of how one of the most important poskim of our era functioned both when the social and religious stakes were high and when they were not. This book not only presents a data-based analysis of the Arukh Hashulchan’s decision making, but a set of tools that can be applied to other works to enhance our understanding of the formation of p’sak more broadly.”—Chaim Saiman, Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law & author of Halakha: The Rabbnic Idea of Law (2018)