THE INVENTION OF JEWISH THEOCRACY: The Struggle for Legal Authority in Modern Israel

Abstract

The introduction to The Invention of Jewish Theocracy introduces the idea of the halakhic state, which is the belief that the State of Israel should be governed by traditional Jewish law (halakha). It offers a definition and history of the religious Zionist community, whose leaders are the main proponents of this belief, and provides an overview of the idea’s origins and development. The chapter proposes a framework and methodology, which is based on legal and political thought, and especially the ideas of legal centralism and legal pluralism. It lays out some of the main arguments of the book and its implications for Israeli society today, as well as for key debates in the fields of history and religious studies, particularly debates over theories of secularization in the modern world.