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11 Cardozo L. Rev. 1079 (1989-1990)
The Idolatry of Rules: Writing Law According to Moses, with Reference to Other Jurisprudences

handle is hein.journals/cdozo11 and id is 1093 raw text is: THE IDOLATRY OF RULES: WRITING LAW ACCORDING TO MOSES, WITH REFERENCE TO OTHER JURISPRUDENCES Arthur J. Jacobson* Moses, unlike Socrates, writes. He writes about writing. He writes about writing law. He writes about reading it, erasing it, learn- ing and teaching it. The first mention of writing in the Five Books occurs in the sec- ond, which English speakers call by the Greek name Exodus, but which Hebrew speakers call Names.1 The scene is the first battle of the people of Israel after their flight from Egypt. The battle is against Amalek, in Refidim. It is the occasion in Moses' text for the introduc- tion of Joshua, Moses' aide-de-camp.2 It is also the moment in which Max Freund Professor of Litigation and Advocacy, Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. This essay is a meditation on writing law, informed by a reading of the works of Jacques Derrida. Citation to single works of his is beside the point. Thanks to him and collab- orators who helped me understand Moses' text-Rabbi J. David Bleich, Rabbi Marvin Pe- truck, and Peninah Petruck. It would be a mistake to say that my students, Ori Karev and Yehuda Najman, helped me with the translations: I helped them. Thanks also to David Cart- son, Drucilla Cornell, and Michel Rosenfeld for their inspiration, and to Stephen K. Firestein for a model of collaborative writing. I Names, XVII, 14-16. From now on I will refer to cites from Names by a roman nu- meral chapter and an arabic numeral verse only. I prefer to use English translations of the Hebrew names of the Five Books, rather than the (mostly) Greek translations, which are more familiar. The tradition names each book by the first significant word in the text of the book. Hence: Genesis In the Beginning Of (Bereshit) Exodus Names (Sh'mot) Leviticus He Called (Vayikra) Numbers In the Wilderness (Bamidbar) Deuteronomy Propositions (D'varim) English calls the last book Deuteronomy, but d'varim means words, propositions, dis- courses, matters, or things. Propositions contains the last propositions or discourses of the dying lawgiver. The best Greek translation is Logoi, not Deuteronomos (second law). Moses also uses the word d'varim to describe the ten d'varim, usually translated as ten commandments. Moses does not call them commandments,-mitsvot-a word he reserves for other matters. In order to reveal the Hebrew text as well as possible in English, I translate d'varim as propositions wherever it occurs, regardless of better English choices in context. These names resonate more powerfully than the anglicized Greek with various themes woven elaborately and carefully into the fabric of the Five Books. 2 XVII, 9. Joshua will figure prominently at two further points in the Five Books: the second and third of three covenants between God and Israel, at Names, XXXIII, 11 (but his servant Joshua-bin-Nun, a young lad, did not depart out of the tent), and at Propositions, XXXI, 14, 23 and XXXII, 44. 1079

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