Progressive Halakhah and Homosexual Marriage 153

binding upon the faithful Jew is the historical experience of the people of Israel , since, historically perceived, this is ultimately the sanction of the halakhah itself.”6

Serious modernist Jews accept or reject the content of Jewish tradition not because of convenience or caprice, but as a matter of principle, based on their liberal theological understanding of revelation, history, and halakhah. Modernist Jews have a differ­ent basic conception of the divine authority of halakhah. The progressive view initiates and supports inquiry aimed at uncov­ering the latent principles of halakhah and Jewish tradition and then applies them to reach halakhic decisions.

This theological position on the divine authority of halakhah, together with a sensitivity to ethical concerns, inner spirituality, and social justice, is the crucial factor in the opinions issued by modernist halakhists. Some of the foremost thinkers of the twen­tieth century have set forth criteria for halakhic decision making and observance of the commandments by modern, non-fun­damentalist Jews . Most Orthodox decisors reject these criteria because the very process of choosing and selecting which tradi­tional precepts should be observed is incompatible with the tra­ditional view of the absolute authority of the divinely authored and sanctioned halakhah.”

[tis incumbent upon us to determine which of these criteria of Progressive halakhah apply to pesikah in the case of same-sex mar­riage. Does Progressive Judaism sanction homosexual marriage?

To resolve this issue we must determine what are the criteria and principles for pesikah(decision making) in progressive halakhah that may be applied to such a question. A number of such progressive criteria may help us ascertain the moral and lib­eral Jewish religious approach to this problem. My contention is that decisions in such important matters should be decided on the basis of these criteria and principles.

Major Thrust of the Tradition

The rules and principles mentioned here may serve as a guide for liberal tradition and halakhah. As with any collection of pre­cepts, these principles will be useful only if we make the effort to