may derive from scholarship of spiritual charisma, but without these qualities, a community crisis may result. Part of the relationship of the laity with rabbis is the kavod, the honor and respect afforded the spiritual leader. Must the rabbi earn this respect or should it be granted to him/her as the representative of Torah ? The professionalization of the rabbinate heightened the tension between studying and teaching Torah for the sake of Heaven and the need to make a living.

Rabbis throughout the ages were called upon to respond with sensitivity to the ethical imperatives of those suffering from the undue"tyranny" of the halakhah. Many of the great sages resolved the problems of these unfortunates through halakhic innovation, thereby assuaging their anguish. Rabbinic arbitration, less known that rabbinic courts and judgement, may serve as a model when compromise is required and a rabbi’s Torah verdict may not be authorative. Rabbis and lay people sharing authority and power in the congregation is a time tried phenomenon.

These are among the issues presented in this book. Of course there are vast differences between Jewish leadership of the past and today, yet many of the principles of interaction between rabbi and community revealed in this tome are still valid today. To use the language of the philosophers, the essence of the rabbinate, its intrinsic nature and true substances will be found in all of the above and yet will be more than the sum of these many categories. Hopefully, this book will contribute to the understanding of the Rabbinic-lay relationships.

This is the second publication of our Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah. It is based on a colloquium held at the 1991 CCAR Conference in Fort Lauderdale , Florida . It follows our first volume, Dynamic Jewish Law, 1991. The next volume, Conversion and Halakhic Pluralism will be published soon. A Hebrew book, The Sane Halakhah, will be available in the autumn of 1993. An English translation is planned.