Q&A: The Theory of Law According to Rabbi Shimon Shkop
The Theory of Law According to Rabbi Shimon Shkop
Question
Hello Rabbi, in your column on Rashi’s approach in Bava Kamma 60a, and also in the article you wrote about it, you cited Rabbi Shimon Shkop’s words in Sha'arei Yosher and explained that there are two novel points in his view: a. The legal dimension defines the ownership rights to which the Torah’s prohibitions apply. b. The legal dimension itself prohibits. Based on this, you wrote that it follows that even according to the view that there is no prohibition of “you shall not steal” regarding theft from a gentile, it is still forbidden from a legal standpoint. I wanted to ask two questions: a. In the Talmud in Bava Kamma 113b we see that they allowed avoidance of repaying a gentile’s loan. Is there no legal prohibition regarding that? Or did they simply not take that into account? b. From the continuation of Rabbi Shimon Shkop’s words it sounds like he explains that the legal layer determines ownership rights, but does not create legal prohibitions..
Answer
a. This can be discussed from several angles: avoiding repayment of a loan is not really theft, because a loan is money that becomes the borrower’s property. Therefore they permitted it with regard to a gentile. We are speaking about a gentile who does not observe the seven Noahide commandments, and with regard to him there are no legal obligations. Or, they permitted it as a sanction against the conduct of the gentiles, even though strictly speaking it is forbidden.
b. From several places in Rabbi Shimon Shkop it is clear that he means both levels. For example, at the beginning of the section he asks: why should one obey a command that is not in the Torah? And if this is only a definition, what obedience is involved? Later he writes that theft from a gentile is legally forbidden even according to the view that theft from a gentile is permitted.
Discussion on Answer
Maybe there was some influence here too (it is clear that there was in other contexts), but I do not see a necessary connection. The structure in which there is an extra-halakhic command does indeed appear there.
I understand that the Rabbi, in his wonderful sixth approach in 'Jewish Law and Morality,' was influenced by lines of thought from Rabbi Shimon Shkop… Is this indeed true and accepted in Israel?