Matters were different in America . The nineteenth and early twentieth century had witnessed a rebellion against halakhic strictures. By the second decade of the twentieth century, however, a change had become visible in the debates of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The position developed by the Columbus Platform(1937) and the newly revised Union Prayerbook (1940) demonstrated a new mood. A need for practically expressed standards of ethics and observance began to be felt. This was expressed through the work of Solomon B. Freehof 's Reform Jewish Practice, vols. 1(1944), and 11(1952) as well as a similar effort by David Polish and Max Doppelt. In the subsequent decades the field of Reform Responsa was developed by Solomon B. Freehof , and halakhic discussions became more common in the Journal of Reform Judaism, volumes of responsa published by the Central Conference as well as other forums.

In the years following the Second World War, similar interests in halakhah began to be shown by the Reform, Progressive and Liberal Jewish communities of England and various other countries. In Israel the developing Progressive movement undertook its own effort in this direction. During the past two decades, numerous articlrs, written in the spirit of Liberal halakhah, were published in the national Hebrew press. For the most part these efforts were conducted by rabbis working alone or in the framework of their own movement with little relationship to Reform halakhists in other part of the world. In order to establish cooperation among Liberal halakhic scholars and lay-persons, the Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah was established in 1990. It is an affiliate of the World Union for Progressive Judaism .

The Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah is a creative research center devoted to studying and defining the progressive character of the halakhah in accordance with the principles and theology of Reform Judaism. It will work to establish the ideological basis of Progressive halakhah, and its application to daily life. The Institute hopes to foster serious studies, and to help