Progressive Halakhah and Homosexual Marriage
Kelal Yisrael—Responsibility to the Covenant Community
Most of the fundamental principles for evaluating the mitzvot and deciding which should be observed, like internalizing the commandments and heeding the voice of individual conscience, relate to the individual's struggle between soul and heritage. There comes a moment, nevertheless, in the observance of the commandments when Jews are called upon to express their sense of responsibility to their people, to the Covenant Community, or kelal yisrael. A Jew cannot live a full Jewish life alone. Many precepts can be performed only in public as part of a community, in a prayer quorum or minyan, in the synagogue, and at home. For citizens of Israel there is also the community of the Jewish state, which adds the responsibility of observing special precepts, such as defending our homeland and serving our people, as well as other civic obligations, which in Israel assume the character of mitzvot.
Beyond the individual, then, there is kelal yisrael, which includes all Jews wherever they live. Each of us bears responsibil ity for the entire nation; we are all responsible for one another. We must observe certain precepts for the good of the collective even when we have personal reservations about them. This is another criterion for the observance of mitzvot.
Accordingly, we must all ask ourselves not only whether a particular precept is compatible with our individual world view, but also whether observing it would harm or strengthen the Jew ish people as a whole.
Rabbi Petuchowski has written that“everything... which contributes to the survival and to the unity of the Covenant Community of Israel must be regarded as a religious commandment. Everything, on the other hand, which hurts the Covenant must be avoided. Bearing this perspective in mind, the Reform Jew will observe many a mitzvah toward which he might feel no personal obligation, because it is not a matter of the individual only[but] also of the community as a whole.”*
Following this principle, our halakhic decisions must take account of more than just ourselves and our synagogue, community, and movement. We must be aware of their ramifications for kelal yisrael. When dealing with issues relating to marriage