THE SEARCH FOR LIBERAL HALAKHAH

To return to our original question: Is there such a thing as a"liberal halakhah"? In order to answer in the affirmative, liberals need to advance beyond theory and to adopt a strategy of direct confrontation with the halakhic consensus. Granted that the consensus exists and that it functions as a"systemic principle" in halakhah, the task is now to show that the consensus position, when examined on its own terms, is intellectually weak and wanting. For example, utilizing accepted procedures of halakhic analysis, liberals may show that the viewpoint of the"preponderant rabbinic majority" is based upon poor reasoning, improbable analogies and misreadings of the Talmudic and halakhic sources. In other cases, where the consensus view is textually sound, analysis might reveal that the decision of the gedolim is no more than an arbitrary choice, and not necessarily the best one, from among a number of equally valid halakhic alternatives. Such an "inner critique" of rabbinic decisions would do much to strip the aura of inevitability from the consensus position. Indeed, if the observant community were to be made aware of the kinds of reasoning and argumentation that often support the consensus view, they might be less likely to grant it automatic recognition as the correct halakhic opinion.

This approach can be illustrated with examples culled from the realm of medical halakhah. We may begin with the question of abortion, which has become the subject of bitter controversy in the halakhic literature. Although liberals point to lenient opinions by various poskim, drawing upon solid support in the classical sources, concerning the warrant for abortion,® the emerging halakhic consensus restricts the procedure to cases of mortal danger to the mother. A major factor behind this conservative trend is the 1978 responsum by R. Moshe Feinstein . As the ruling of perhaps the preeminent halakhic authority of contemporary times, this opinion exerts an enormous influence upon Orthodox practice and the political activity of Orthodox organizations. Yet few Orthodox Jews

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