Harmonisation as Theological Hermeneutic

This work examines the distinctive Hasidic hermeneutic that characterises Shem mi-Shemuel, the magnum opus of Rabbi Shemuel Bornstein. The leitmotif of Shem mi-Shemuel is the harmonisation of conflicting sources, expressed in a hermeneutic that is extraordinary in its approach, range and objectives. In this ground-breaking work, Harvey Belovski describes Bornstein's intepretative methodology, locating his work within the galaxy of Jewish interpretative approaches by examining his attitude to disagreement within and between sources such as midrash, aggadah and mediaeval philosophy and carefully comparing it with the methodologies of other interpreters. Belovski shows how Bornstein applies his harmonistic methodology virtually without limits as well as organising sources within a single conceptual framework, establishing a complex relationship between them. It emerges that Bornstein's hermeneutic is driven by a far-reaching application of the kabbalistic identification of the ‘oneness’ of the Torah with the ‘oneness’ of God, with all of its attendant theological and practical ramifications.