Politics and the limits of law : secularizing the political in medieval Jewish thought / Menachem Lorberbaum.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-208) and indexes.

Introduction: Divine Law and Secular Politics -- The Polity -- Biblical and Talmudic Background -- Maimonides -- The Natural Foundations of Politics -- "Man Is Political by Nature" -- Modern Interpretations -- Polity and Society -- Medieval Interpretations -- Naturalizing Divine Law -- The Insufficiency of Law -- Maimonides on Law -- From Law to Politics -- The Code on the Priority of Politics -- Monarchy--A King Must Be Appointed and Honored -- The King and the Sanhedrin -- The King's Right to Command -- The King's Right to Punish -- Royal Law -- Consent -- The Maimonidean Monarchy--Instrumental or Natural? -- Constitutional Crisis and Messianic Resolution -- The Maimonidean Polity -- Politics and Religion -- Tension -- The Messianic Polity -- The Utopian Vision -- The Messianic Age and the Utopian Vision -- Gerondi -- The Kahal as a Polity -- The History of Public Law -- Communal Authority -- Nahmanides -- Solomon ibn Adret (Rashba) -- The Autonomy of Politics -- Politics -- The Structure of the Polity -- Divine Law -- Impasse -- Conclusion: Secularizing Politics -- Turning to Modernity.