with a responsum filled with rabbinic citations and used them to show that Kohler was not abiding by the spirit of Reform Judaism. Kohler subsequently(1919) wrote a single paragraph appeal to the members of the Conference that his decision be followed.
This brief exchange marks one of the few occasions in which different positions were publicly debated. Another occurred between Kohler and Deutsch (1918 and 1919) over nolad mahul. Kohler had provided a single line answer from the hospital bed; Deutsch objected and the next year Kohler responded with a brief well argued piece which he hoped"will be ratified by the members of the committee and endorsed by the Conference.” The possibility for such a path was established through their encounters.
In three responsa that dealt with"The Burial on Non-Jewish Wives in Jewish Cemeteries "(1914, 1916, 1919), Kaufmann Kohler provided no rabbinic references and simply stated his reason guided by the traditional sources and his own Reform point of view which was permissive despite some hesitation. The only references were a footnote which provided some basic Talmudic citations. One of these responsa was signed by Lauterbach as well. Deutsch in a much longer responsum(1919) filled with citations disagreed and left the matter to local authorities.
Gotthard Deutsch (1859-1921), Professor of History at the Hebrew Union College , who served as acting president of the college during an interim in the year 1903, wrote six responsa. As a historian his approach was anecdotal, and he felt that theoretical principles were less important than personalities and personal involvement. For him the forces of work in history remained very much the same throughout all periods or combination of physical and spiritual. Deutsch ’s historic concepts were not reflected in his responsa except in a fundamental historic view shared by all Reform writers of responsa. He provided a thorough review of the entire range of tradition with many sources, Biblical, Talmudic ,
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