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Rabbinic Literature - the literature produced by rabbis who lived between the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70CE and the Islamic Conquest in the seventh century CE - is famous for reimagining Judaism as a law-based rather than temple-based religion, for validating contradictory legal and theological opinions, and for producing arguably the earliest set of hermeneutic rules for interpreting a canonized text. These three innovations mark Rabbinic Literature as a special site for investigating a variety of questions about legal meaning that are relevant for understanding both Jewish law and law more generally. This course will utilize rabbinic texts that discuss ethically problematic precedents in biblical law as a laboratory within which to explore such questions as the location of legal meaning, the authority of legal interpreters and the cultural impact of law. The seminar is also available for three hours of credit for students who elect to write two drafts of a research paper for the course. Evaluation: Research paper Teaching Method: Seminar discussion Prerequisites: None