PESIKAH AND AMERICAN REFORM RESPONSA

Germany, if they wished to witness the problems of living Orthodox practice they only had to cross a few kilometers into Eastern Europe and they would be clearly visible.

The reasons for lack of responsa then are(a) the conservatism of the central European Liberal Jewish communities; (b) the communal structure;(c) liberal dominance of these communities.

Precisely the opposite kind of conditions led to the rise of the responsa literature in North America . When the Responsa Committee was established under Kaufmann Kohler in 1907, Reform Judaism represented the best organized and most vigorous element of the American Jewish community. It, however, faced an ever increasing number of immigrants from Eastern Europe who became interested in Reform Judaism, and who had many questions about Reform practices and thought. Furthermore as the American Jewish community was isolated and young, it had no traditions and so the more extreme Reform position had taken a greater hold in the United States than in Europe . When the Executive Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis discussed the formation of a Responsa Committee some members expressed the need to help students graduating from the Hebrew Union College to defend their positions with reference to the traditional texts. The discussion followed an earlier debate about the purpose and format of a Minister's Hand Book in 1906,* and other ways of assisting younger colleagues. The discussion which established the Committee limited its work and provided that they"shall publish their answers in the Yearbook under the revision of the Executive Committee.” The members of the Executive Board did not wish the Committee to create a new Shulhan Arukh. It is difficult to understand why the Committee should not report directly to the Conference. This may have been part of an expressed desire to limit the work of the Committee or it may have reflected the feeling that responsa were individual opinions. They would not be binding, but

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