3. The ethical is the priority of halakhah
Eliezer Berkovits proclaims:"The rabbis in the Talmud were guided by the insight: God forbid that there should be anything in the application of the Torah to the actual life situation that is contrary to the principles of ethics."** If a ruling is halakhic, it must be ethical. If it is unethical, it cannot be halakhic.
Seymour Siegel applies this principle of priority to the practice of selecting, revising or abolishing particular laws. He proclaims: "The ethical values of our tradition should have the power to judge the particulars of Jewish law. If any law in our tradition does not fulfill our ethical values, then the law should be abolished or revised... Thus, if because of changing conditions, the specific laws no longer express the ethical values which Tradition teaches,... we have the responsibility to revise the laws, rather than allow them to fall into desuetude."® Siegel would apply this principle to matters involving mamzerut, the marriage of a kohen to a divorcee or convert, the refusal to give a get and similar cases.
We should likewise apply this ethical principle to issues of social justice in our respective countries. For example, there should be a liberal halakhic approach to the moral issues of the Intifada and demolishing the family homes of suspected terrorists."
4. Holiness is the reason for the commandments
neral rationale of the mitzvah (taam hamitzvah) rather than with the reason for each individual commandment. He states that kedushah(holiness) is the reason for the commandment character of Judaism . The Torah bears witness to the general purpose of the mitzvah:"That you may remember and do all my commandments and be holy to your God ...The origin of the commandments is in the idea of kedushah.""
Julius Guttman deals with ge
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