The Birth of Doubt: Confronting Uncertainty in Early Rabbinic Literature by Moshe Halbertal (review)

Abstract

In his introduction to Kuntres hasefeikot, Yehudah Kahana (nineteenth century, L’viv) noted that the commentaries on the section of the Shulḥan ‘arukh dealing with monetary issues largely ignored matters of doubt. He writes, “They did not give their attention to gathering (these issues) to a specific place.“ And so, to fill this gap, Kahana went on to produce his staple of the yeshiva world—a work that is complex, intricate, and enriching. Moshe Halbertal’s newly translated work The Birth of Doubt: Confronting Uncertainty in Early Rabbinic Literature follows Kahana’s footsteps in both tenor and tone. To that end, reading The Birth of Doubt is both challenging and rewarding. The concept of doubt is inherently confusing, and Halbertal fills the volume with several rich and sophisticated case studies from across tannaitic (and occasionally amoraic) material. Given the content matter, it takes a notinsignificant amount of effort from the reader to appreciate the scholarship. Not to worry, however, as readers are in excellent hands. Combining his expertise in both legal theory and rabbinic material, Halbertal skillfully guides readers through the dense material. Moreover, he demonstrates his command of a wide range of secondary material as well—as medieval authorities, like R. Samson b. Raphael of Sens or twentiethcentury figures like R. Shimon Shkop are as likely to appear in the notes as contemporary academic scholars. The work is organized thematically, with each larger case study receiving its own chapter, but several overall themes stand out. The first has to do with the rabbis as agents of ethical worldmaking. For example, the first chapter deals with situations of statistical doubt and the cost of error. That is, examples where an individual cannot be completely sure as to the situation at hand, such as when one encounters meat of unknown kashrut status in a marketplace or rubble from a collapsed building that may or may not have an individual trapped underneath. Through these and other examples, Halbertal charts a program of ethical Halakhahmaking. This is to say, the rabbis were more apt to be permissive in their treatment of doubt in circumstances where inaction or nonaction could have dire consequences. Another example of the rabbis’ commitment to ethical worldmaking can be found in Halbertal’s discussion of doubt and purity. For Jews concerned about ritual purity, the world outside one’s doorstep would have been terrifying—there were simply too many sources of exposure lurking around every corner. Readers today, reading in the aftermath of a pandemic, surely have a greater appreciation for such considerations. If the rabbis were to be strict in declaring impurities in