First published in 1980, Jewish Jurisprudence is the first volume of an important series analysing and setting forth the substantive principles of Jewish jurisprudence. It encompasses the applicable sources of Jewish law from the original transmission to Moses on Sinai of the terse written law and its accompanying oral elaboration through its development to the present day. Each topic concludes with the authors’ view of the present status of the law. In former years, the public teaching and discussion of law occupied a prominent place in Jewish culture. Today, estrangement from the language of Halacha has made it less accessible to the general public. This series is an attempt to open the world of Jewish law to the layperson, general scholars and specialists in jurisprudence.