Abstract |
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This paper intends to introduce Robert
Cover’s theory of radical pluralism by underlining
the powerful connections between his scholarship and his
lifelong study of Jewish texts. In some of his published
works, Cover’s extensive knowledge of and reliance
on Jewish sources is evident. The paper enucleates three
main “Jewish” themes in Cover’s work.
These are: 1) the idea of the social order of groups as
universe composed of nomos and narrative; 2) the idea that
obligation represents the force of gravity that keeps together
social orders; 3) the idea that law can be an instrument
of change, even when it is the expression of a messianic
movement. In the latter case, an example from Jewish history,
i.e. the attempt to renew Semikah in Safed, is taken as
a test case for Cover’s theory. |