Feminist Folktales of Justice Robert Cov
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Robert Cover's dynamic legal theory offers a powerful framework for feminist Jews to claim interpretive authority in halakhic practice and create inclusive normative communities. Through critical textual analysis of Cover's concepts of jurisgenesis, nomos, and narrative, a path emerges for feminist approaches to Jewish law that transcend traditional static conceptions. Cover's distinction between paidaic (world-creating) and imperial (world-maintaining) legal moments illuminates how alternative legal visions can arise through narrative reinterpretation, as demonstrated in Yiddish folktales and Talmudic narratives featuring figures like Yalta. Traditional halakhic categories, constructed without women's participation, fail to adequately address contemporary Jewish women's experiences and concerns. Yet Cover's understanding of law as meaning-making grounded in story enables a proactive approach to halakhah centered in jurisgenerative communities rather than mere reactive adaptation of traditional texts. This approach presents possibilities for authentic feminist Jewish legal innovation while maintaining vital connections to foundational narratives, ultimately "engendering" Judaism through the integration of both women's and men's stories and commitments.

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Published 1993
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Rachel Adler