INFLUENCE OF JEWISH LAW (BIBLE) IN SOME AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Dr. Allan Richter, Doctor of Laws (JD)

INFLUENCE OF JEWISH LAW IN SOME AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

“The word “halakhah” is usually translated as “Jewish Law”, although a more literal (and more appropriate) translation might be “the  path that one walks.”  The word is derived from Hebrew root Hei-Lamed-Kaf, meaning to go, to walk or to travel.”

The word “Torah” is a tricky one, because it can mean different things in different contexts.  In its most limited sense, “Torah” refers to the Five Books of Moses…But the word “Torah” can also be used to refer to the entire Jewish bible (the body of scripture known to non-Jews as the Old Testament and to Jews as the “Tanach” or written Torah), or in its broadest sense, to the body of Jewish law and teachings.

In Jewish mysticism the world, is founded upon the primordial Holy Torah which is composed of black fire written on white fire.  This primordial Torah shines within and before the Holy One at the beginning of creation.  It is infinite and eternal, without beginning or end. This primordial Torah is identified with the Word.  It is the source of the earthly Torah and Halakhah.  It has never been fully revealed. Christian and Jewish understanding of the nature of the Word are similar but differ.

Roberto Aron in INFLUENCE OF JEWISH LAW IN SOME AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS traces the influence of Torah and Halakah in the United States, particularly our constitution.

“Through the windows of the Puritan Churches of New England the New West looked back to the Old East.”  (The Origin of Republican Form of Government in the United States of America by Oscar S. Straus)