Moshe Halbertal (Hebrew: משה הלברטל; born Montevideo, Uruguay, 1958) is an Israeliphilosopher, professor, and writer, a noted expert on Maimonides, and co-author of the Israeli Army Code of Ethics.[1] He currently holds positions as the John and Golda Cohen Professor of Jewish Thought and Philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem[2] and Gruss Professor of Law at NYU School of Law.[3]
In 2021 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[4]
According to Halbertal, what "distinguishes between the so-called ultra-Orthodox point of view and a modern Orthodox or modern approach (is) that tradition doesn't monopolize all of value, all of truth".[5]
Halbertal believes that the Israeli government ought to finance and subsidize religious education, synagogues, and mikvahs, but not impose doctrinal tests on these institutions. In his view, individuals should have an equal opportunity to form Orthodox, Reform, or other kinds of congregations with the same access to state funding.[5]
Halbertal is profoundly committed to the democratic process. "Democracy is a non-violent form of adjudicating different ideologies. It's very easy to be non-violent when stakes are low; in Israel, we are in a condition where the stakes are very high. It's a tribute to Israel that it has managed to maintain democracy under such conditions of diversity and high political stakes. I would like to see other Western states deal with this condition without becoming fascistic."[5]
Idolatry, co-authored with Avishai Margalit, translated by Naomi Goldblum (Harvard University Press, 1992)
Interpretative Revolutions in the Making (Hebrew) (Magnes Press, 1997)
People of the Book: Canon, Meaning and Authority (Harvard University Press, 1997)
Between Torah and Wisdom: Menachem ha-Meiri and the Maimonidean Halakhists in Provence (Hebrew) (Magnes Press, 2000) (Goldstein-Goren award for the best book in Jewish thought in the years 1997-2000)
Concealment and Revelation: The Secret and its Boundaries in Medieval Jewish Thought (Yeriot, 2001)
Esotericism in Jewish Thought and its Philosophical Implications (translated from Hebrew by Jackie Feldman as Concealment and Revelation (Princeton University Press, 2007)
By Way of Truth: Nachmanides and the Creation of Tradition (Hebrew) (Shalom Hartman Institute, 2006)
Judaism and the Challenges of Modern Life, co-edited with Donniel Hartman (Continuum, 2007)
