ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the major themes and attitudes towards the sources of Jewish law and their nature against the backdrop of the theocentric–anthropocentric predicament. As in Late Antiquity, Jewish attitudes during the Middle Ages were polarized between those who repudiated human involvement in the law and others who celebrated human prudence. Nevertheless, the nature of the sources of Jewish law and the manner in which they function and construct the body of that law and its operation appear to be integral to any depiction of Jewish law. Historical discourses about the sources of Jewish law are typified by a struggle with a biblical paradigm in which epiphany is the ultimate source of law. Clearly, the biblical model raises questions about the role and the weight of human agency in the law and its operation, and thus the various understandings of the sources of Jewish law can be examined through the margin between epiphany and human prudence.
