the law to ponder his own decision earnestly, fearfully, and humbly, because he was aware that he was dealing with a question already considered by the earlier authorities. Nevertheless, when he finally reached his conclusion his view, and not the view of the earlier authorities, became law.
The contemporary decisor, or in our case, the Responsa Committee, must carefully weigh the decisions of prior generations and“ponder earnestly, fearfully and humbly,” but ultimately the decision lies in the hands of the contemporary sage either to uphold the past or to rule differently.
The task of determining and fashioning the halakhah was entrusted to the halakhic authorities of every generation, to perform according to the tradition they possessed and according to their human reason and intelligence. The halakhic authorities that constituted an integral part of the general community and whose own lives were affected by the problems of their generation, were authorized to examine the previously existing halakhah in the light of their own later circumstance; and their decisions established the law. In this way, the halakhah continued and devel
oped. Linked to and interwoven with current life and problems,
it guided at the same time was shaped by contemporary life.
Our contemporary intellectual, social, ethical, scientific, and economic environment is part of the equation. Our decisions are in response to the problems engendered by the context in which we live. In the case of our attitudes toward homosexuality, there has been a dramatic change over the last two decades. Homosexuality has been uprooted from the categories of sin and illness and been replanted as sexuality identity.'
Dorff and Rossett offer the following observation: significant changes in Jewish law sometimes come through outright revision, but more often they were produced by shifting the weight according to varying constructions of precedents.'” Reform Judaism has for more than a century been revising its marital halakhah. For the last two decades we have been reevaluating our position on homosexuals and homosexuality. The discussion about same-sex marriage or commitment ceremonies should be understood as the latest step in a long and complex process. The issues have been considered not only by the rabbinate, but by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.