PESIKAH AND AMERICAN REFORM RESPONSA
Three responsa were written by Lauterbach during his first year. The question on"Marriages Between New Year and the Day of Atonement "(1922) was answered in a short paragraph as was the inquiry about"The Removal of a Dead Body to Another Grave" (1922). In these responsa he followed the style of his predecessor and provided only the simplest rabbinic sources. Lauterbach changed his approach, however, as he turned to the question of the "Ordination of Women"(1922) which led him to a lengthy essay with many citations from the Talmud , Midrash , codes, as well as responsa. After providing the traditional conclusion along with the reasoning from the sources, he provided a negative conclusion on two grounds,(a) this would undermine the authority of the Reform rabbi and remove him from the"chain of tradition", and(b) klal yisrael. He brushed aside practical considerations such as the dearth of rabbis as that could be solved in other ways. He could not see women in a position other than mother and homemaker; he felt that these roles would interfere with the rabbinate, as women rabbis should be married just as male rabbis, and they would not readily find a mate who would place himself into a subordinate position. We can see then that in this instance the principle of equality of men and women, which was an early hallmark of Reform Judaism, was pushed aside by the principle of klal yisrael, the authority of the rabbi as well as a generous dose of personal prejudice. The latter undoubtedly was a major factor as more space was devoted to it than the other issues. Here Lauterbach in contrast to his other decisions was not liberal.
This was one of the very few responsa which was subjected to a lengthy debate by the Conference despite the original decision of the Conference to accept responsa as non-binding and without debate. Among those who spoke only David Neumark provided arguments with citations from the traditional literature in favor of
99