The Reasons for the Commandments in Jewish Thought

This classic work by early-20th-century Jewish humanist and scholar Isaac Heinemann surveys the crucial phases of Jewish thought concerning correct conduct as codified in the commandments. Heinemann provides his own systematic insights about the intellectual emotional pedagogical and pragmatic reasoning advanced by the major Jewish thinkers. This volume covers Jewish thinkers from the Bible rabbis and Hellenistic philosophers through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance including Saadiah Halevi Maimonides Albo and many others. Heinemann addresses such questions as: What were the Biblical rabbinic medieval and modern rationales offered for the commandments in the course of Jewish thought?