AUTHORITY AND CRITERIA IN LIBERAL HALAKHAH

The mitzvah is not an end unto itself but a means by which one may be sanctified and drawn closer to God . The possibility of attaining kedushah is one of the criteria of the observance of a commandment. Mitzvot such as prayer, study of Torah , gemilut hasadim and others should lead to sanctification. The litmus test of holiness should determine the value of every religious act for the daily life of the Jew of our generation.

5. Internalizing the mitzvah

How does a particular mitzvah become part and parcel of one’s inner being? Franz Rosenzweig suggested a progression from "Ich muss" to"Ich kann"- from"I am obliged" to observe because of an outer demand to"I am able" to fulfill the mitzvah because of an inner calling. What I am not yet able to accept may, in time, become acceptable, and therefore a commandment for me. The criterion of the observance of a commandment is whether I may internalize and observe this mitzvah bekavanah, with inner devotion and intent. This requires a constant effort of selecting and trying mitzvot. This is undoubtedly what Rosenzweig meant in his reported reply to the query, Do you put on tefilin? When he responded:"Noch nicht"- Not yet. In the words of Franz Rosenzweig :"...the voice of commandment causes the spark to leap from‘I must’ to‘I can.” The Law is built on such commandments and only on them."®

6. The critical approach to the halakhah

John Rayner clearly expounded the following infrequently expressed principle of Liberal halakhah:"There are whole vast areas of halakhah...predicated on assumptions unacceptable to us, for instance, regarding the inferior status of women, the hereditary privileges of the priesthood, the desirability of sacrificial worship, the importance of ritual purity, the defiling effect of menstruation and the legitimacy in principle of capital and corporal punishment...

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