Most bioethicists concern themselves with common law when considering the mores that inform practitioners operating in the framework of medical institutions. These questions are generally addressed from the perspective of secular ethics. Many Jewish physicians, however Contributors to this volume address medical issues such as organ transplantation, physician's fees, new reproductive technologies, informed consent, and medical confidentiality in the context of Jewish law. Jewish thought is presented as of great relevance to both the history of medical ethics and contemporary medico-legal issues. The volume concludes with a chronicle of Jewish Law in the State of Israel and a survey of recent literature.

This is the first book to present a systematic and synthetic introduction to Jewish law.

The book is divided into three sections. The first provides a general historical overview for the Jewish thought that follows. The second summarizes the variety of basic kinds of popular, positive Jewish commitment in the twentieth century. The third and major section summarizes the basic thought of those modern Jewish philosophers whose thought is technically the best and/or the most influential in Jewish intellectual circles. The Jewish philosophers covered include Spinoza, Mendelssohn, Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Mordecai Kaplan, and Emil Fackenheim. The text includes summaries and a selected bibliography of primary and secondary sources.

Volume 15 of The Jewish Law Annual adds to the growing list of articles on Jewish law that have been published in volumes 1-14 of this series, providing English-speaking readers with scholarly material meeting the highest academic standards. The volume contains six articles diverse in their scope and focus, encompassing legal, historical, textual, comparative and conceptual analysis, as well as a survey of recent literature and a chronicle of cases of interest. Among the topics covered are: lying in rabbinical court proceedings; unjust enrichment; can a witness serve as judge in the same case?; Caro's Shulham Arukh v. Maimonides' Mishne Torah in the Yemenite community, the New Jersey eruv wards.

"This book includes a chronology and an introduction that presents an overview of all aspects of Judaism. Numerous cross-referenced dictionary entries detail important people, writings, institutions, concepts, Hebrew words, philosophy, theology, and religious law, and an extensive bibliography provides access for further study."--Jacket.

This volume contributes to the growing field of comparative Jewish and American law, presenting twenty-six essays characterized by a number of distinct features. The essays will appeal to legal scholars and, at the same time, will be accessible and of interest to a more general audience of intellectually curious readers. These contributions are faithful to Jewish law on its own terms, while applying comparative methods to offer fresh perspectives on complex issues in the Jewish legal system. Through careful comparative analysis, the essays also turn to Jewish law to provide insights into substantive and conceptual areas of the American legal system, particularly areas of American law that are complex, controversial, and unsettled.

First Published in 1987. This is Volume six of the annual published under the auspices of the Institute of Jewish Law of the Boston University School of Law. The symposium on the Philosophy of Jewish Law, which forms the main content of both this and the next issue, represents a major contribution to an area of investigation which has attracted increasing interest in recent years.

The second volume of the series "Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses" points out the roots of the concept of ''human rights'' in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It shows how far the universal validity of ''human rights'' opposes in some crucial points with religious traditions. The volume demonstrates that new perspectives are introduced to the general discussion about human rights when related to religious traditions. Especially the interreligious viewpoint proves that a new kind of debate about human rights and its history is necessary.