Jewish History and Contemporary Judaism
Subject: What Everyone Knows: Fame, Probability and the Nature of Halakha in Medieval Ashkenaz.
Supervisor: Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten and Prof. Moshe Halbertal.
Abstract: My PhD project, What Everyone Knows: Halakhah as Public Law During the Long Thirteenth Century, explores the comparative legal history of medieval rabbinic law in dialogue with its Christian counterparts—namely canon law and the ius commune.
It is widely acknowledged that the rise of the sacred community in medieval Ashkenaz – shaped by mutual surveillance and sustained social pressure – was given legal expression through binding communal ordinances and codified customs. This study seeks to examine how the consolidation of communal authority fundamentally reshaped the structure of legal procedure, most notably through the marked attenuation of two foundational institutions of Talmudic jurisprudence: testimony and oath.
These developments unfolded in parallel with broader transformations in Christian legal culture – most significantly, the emergence of inquisitio, a mechanism of anonymous public prosecution, and the rise of the jury – an institution of collective evidence (and maybe even judgment) grounded in plausibility rather than certainty.
By examining these parallel developments, I aim to clarify how such procedural reforms shaped lived experiences of Halakhah. At the same time, I hope to offer fresh insight into the shared legal dispositions of medieval Jews and Christians.
Graduate of the Honors Program for Outstanding MA Students, 2022–2024