Elu ve-elu is a principle in Jewish thought that is named after a climactic line from a sugya in the Talmud (Eruvin 13b). When facing two contradictory opinions, the divine response was that "elu ve-elu (these and those) are the words of the living God." The principle is pertinent to the Talmudic understanding of intra-rabbinic disputes (makhloket) as well as rabbinic epistemology, though it has become known in recent years as a warrant for non-Orthodox movements as they make changes in their Judaisms.
Context
editThe Talmudic story presupposes that readers are familiar with the sharp rivalry between two ancient rabbinic academies, the Houses of Hillel and Shammai.
Further reading
editDavis, Keenan. "Pluralism in the jewish ethical tradition." The American Journal of Bioethics 20, no. 12 (2020): 16-18.
Halberstam, Joshua. "Epistemic Disagreement and." Studia Humana 6, no. 2 (2017): 7-16.
Hidary, Richard. Dispute for the Sake of Heaven: Legal Pluralism in the Talmud. Vol. 353. Brown Judaic Studies, 2010.
Kanarfogel, Ephraim. "Torah Study and Truth in Medieval Ashkenazic Rabbinic Literature and Thought." (2006).
Kirschenbaum, Aaron. Equity in Jewish law: beyond equity: halakhic aspirationism in Jewish civil law. Vol. 2. KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1991.
Kolbrener, William. "“Chiseled from all Sides”: Hermeneutics and Dispute in the Rabbinic Tradition." AJS Review 28, no. 2 (2004): 273-295.
Rosensweig, Michael. "Elu Va-Elu Divre Elokim Hayyim: Halakhic Pluralism and Theories of Controversy." Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought 26, no. 3 (1992): 4-23.
Sagi, Avi. "" Both are the Words of the Living God": A Typological Analysis of Halakhic Pluralism." Hebrew Union College Annual (1994): 105-136.
Weiss, Daniel H. "Talking with Heretics: Tracing a Theme in Moses Mendelssohn’s Jerusalem and Classical Rabbinic Literature." Modern Jewish Thought on Crisis: Interpretation, Heresy, and History 7 (2024): 185.
See also:
סוקול, משה. "תיאוריות של" אלו ואלו דברי אלוהים חיים"/WHAT DOES A JEWISH TEXT MEAN? THEORIES OF ELU VE-ELU DIVREI ELOHIM HAYIM IN RABBINIC LITERATURE." דעת: כתב-עת לפילוסופיה יהודית וקבלה (1994): XXIII-XXXV.