Download Jewish Law - Valley Beit Midrash

Big Jewish Ideas – Halachah
Rabbi Darren Kleinberg – OMJCC Scholar
1. Categories of Jewish Law
…Originally the term halakhah (pl. halakhot) had the meaning of the particular law or decision in a given
instance, as in the frequent expression “this is a law given to Moses on Sinai.” This usage persisted, but
side by side with it there developed the use of halakhah as a generic term for the whole legal system of
Judaism, embracing all the detailed laws and observances…
The study of the halakhah in the rabbinic period and beyond became the supreme religious
duty…Typical is the rabbinic saying that after the destruction of the Temple, God has nothing else in His
world than the four cubits of the halakhah….
The general assumption in the classical Jewish sources is that the halakhah in its entirety goes back to
Moses, except for various later elaborations, extensions, applications, and innovations in accordance
with new circumstances…But the verdict of modern scholarship is that the halakhah has had a history
and that it is possible to trace the stages in its development with a considerable degree of success.
•
•
•
•
•
The Written Law
Statements handed down by tradition (Kabbalah)
The Oral Law
o Interpretation of the Written Law
o Halakhah given to Moses at Sinai
o Logical deduction
Sayings of the Scribes (Elders) – mi-divrei soferim
Custom - Minhag
Excerpts taken from: Encyclopaedia Judaica. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 8. 2nd ed.
Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. p251-258.
2. The Reform Movement
"The Pittsburgh Platform" - 1885
3. We recognize in the Mosaic legislation a system of training the Jewish people for its mission during its
national life in Palestine, and today we accept as binding only its moral laws, and maintain only such
ceremonies as elevate and sanctify our lives, but reject all such as are not adapted to the views and
habits of modern civilization.
4. We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated
in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state. They
fail to impress the modern Jew with a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is apt
rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation.
British Reform
Some believe that since halachah is the integral decision-making process of Judaism, all branches of
Judaism develop their own unique halacha…
Big Jewish Ideas – Halachah
Rabbi Darren Kleinberg – OMJCC Scholar
If one were to suggest that Reform Judaism is a halachic movement, even if that halachah were greatly
modified from the halachah as understood by today’s Orthodox Jews, the question needs to be asked as
to the authority of that halachah. This question arises because halachah traditionally included matters
of criminal and civil law and these have now been handed over by the Jewish community to the state. It
is also a reality of modern Jewish life that Jews no longer live in shtetls where communal praxis can be
enforced socially, further questioning the authority of any halachah as traditionally understood.
If Reform Judaism is to be seen as a halachic movement, then as that halachah develops it needs to have
input from everyone in the Jewish community, not just the men as happened in the past. It also needs to
be informed, respecting the right of the individual to choose while also respecting the need of the
community for a sense of definition and communal boundaries…
Ultimately, halachah is that which renders the static text of the Bible fluid and relevant in our lives – the
implementation of the ancient written word in our modern world. It is part of the life of the everyday
Jew, either as the ancient basis for their current practice or as the reformulated but nonetheless
continuing chain of traditional interpretation of word to deed.
Excerpt taken from: http://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/a-to-z-of-reform-judaism/contemporaryissues/halachah.html
3. Conservative Judaism
The Indispensability of Halakhah
…For many Conservative Jews, Halakhah is indispensable first and foremost because it is what the
Jewish community understands God's will to be. Moreover, it is a concrete expression of our ongoing
encounter with God. This divine element of Jewish law is understood in varying ways within the
Conservative community, but, however it is understood, it is for many the primary rationale for obeying
Halakhah, the reason that undergirds all the rest…It establishes minimal standards of behavior and gives
ideals concrete expression.
Excerpt taken from: Emet ve-Emunah: Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism (1988/90).
4. Reconstructionist Judaism
By contemporary definitions, one cannot define Reconstructionism as a halakhic form of Judaism. If
halakhah were defined as the Jewish process of transmitting tradition, then we certainly could see
ourselves within the framework of halakhah.
…We [] question the effectiveness of the halakhic method itself for dealing with contemporary concerns.
The halakhic method presumes that all questions are answerable with reference to legal precedent. It
ignores the possibility that new issues, while they may be guided by lod values, must be discussed with
reference to the world in which we now live.
Furthermore, Jewish teachings no longer functions for us as law, nor can they be expected to do so. For
law to function, it must have a body of people to create and adjudicate it; there must be sanctions if one
disobeys. Nowhere in the world does Jewish law now function in that way…
…[T]his change in social circumstance is not accidental. It reflects a basic value of Western democracy –
that individuals ought to make religious choices autonomously.
Excerpt taken from: Alpert, Rebecca T. & Jacoj J. Staub. Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach.
The Reconstructionist Press, 1988.
Big Jewish Ideas – Halachah
Rabbi Darren Kleinberg – OMJCC Scholar