“The Law of the Land and Jewish Law” 87

than in virtually any previous generation. That is one way of viewing this situation. On the other hand we may well claim that we now have the ideal situation in which Jews can subject them­selves completely to Jewish law(halakhah) as long as they do so voluntarily and add this observance to that claimed by the state.

[s our modern expansion of dina demalkhuta dina perma­nent or only a temporary accomodation? The long history of the adjustment of this principle should teach us that nothing is per­manent. Our view of it and the way in which Judaism uses it will surely change Modern times have taken it further than ever before.

Notes

l. The law of the Land of Israel is an amalgam of Turkish , British , American,

and Jewish law; this and the division of legal authority between secular and rabbinic courts would make this an interesting topic for an additional paper. As the State of Israel is esentially a secular state , in some ways the conflict of dina demalkhuta dina exists there too though theoretically this should not be so. The general problem of dina demalkhuta dina has been treated from a different point of view by Leo Landman, Jewish Law in the Diaspora: Con­frontation and Accommodation(Dropsie College Press), Philadelphia , 1968; and by Samuel Shilo, Dina d’Malkhuta Dina, Jerusalem , 1974. Matthew 22.21; Mark 12.17; the New Testament also contains various state­ments of loyalty to Caesar(John 19.15; Acts 17.7; 25.8, etc.). The meaning of these statements in their context is not entirely clear. The topic has been dis­cussed both in its New Testament setting as well as its later ramifications, especially after Martin Luther .

. Gittin 10b; Nedarim 28a; Baba Kama 113a; Baba Batra 54b.

. Biale, Power and Powerlessness in Jewish History,(Schocken), New York, 1986, pp. 54 ff.

- An example of closeness was provided through the citation that Samuel did not order mourning for Jews fighting on the Roman side against the Parthians in their siege of Caesarea as this did not involve the majority of Jews . It simply indicated that he would not mourn for those who allied themselves with the enemy forces(Moed Katan 26a). Bial, op. cit., pp. 54ff.; Jacob Neusner , A History of the Jews in Babylonia, II The Early Sassanian Period,(E.J. Brill, Leiden ), 1966.

- M. Nedarim 3.3. Nedarim 28a.