Review: Adam Kirsch on “Halakhah: The Rabbinic Idea of Law”

In II Corinthians, Paul describes himself as a “minister of the new testament,” and goes on to explain just what this means: “Not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” At a stroke, Paul created a negative myth of Judaism and its attitude toward law that has prevailed in the West ever since. Just look at t…