Rabbi Richard S. Rheins

Those of us who support the continuing development of Pro­ gressive Halakhah face major challenges.’ Too many Jews misun­derstand the word“halakhah” as“Jewish Law, ” an imposing body of ancient and inflexible statutes and restrictions. But halakhah does not mean“law.” Rather, it is derived from the Hebrew root h-l-kh“to go.” Halakhah expresses less a concept of law and legal­ism than a“method,” a“Jewish way of doing things.”

Many Jews affiliated with Reform and Conservative congre­gations do not live lives informed by halakhah, yet it provides a documented record of the evolution and development of Juda­ ism ’s cherished traditions. It also preserves evidence of the many variations of how those rituals were and are practiced from place to place and era to era. Judaism 's growth and flexibility are clearly demonstrated in halakhic literature. Ultimately, Halakhah provides both the“how to” and the“why,” and explanations that help Jews see how, through the fulfillment of mitzvot, they are linked to the continuum of Jewish expression through thou­sands of years.

Without adequate explanations, Jewish rituals and obser­vances may appear to some as bewildering anachronisms. I am not suggesting, nor does Progressive halakhah advocate, unifor­mity of practice and blind obedience to specific rituals. Liberal and secularly educated Jews are quick to protest against mind­less and rote“performance” of rituals. The very birth of the Reform movement was due to the agitation of emancipated Jews who longed for a meaningful and refined expression of Judaism . “Reformers” of the nineteenth century researched and reconsid­ered the origins of old traditions and they reserved the right to reject those rituals that seemed outdated, superstitious, wrong­headed, or simply lacking edifying values. They felt fully em­powered to modify rituals in order to make them more relevant to the contemporary Jewish community. They accompanied those changes with carefully argued responsa that demonstrated how their modifications were in keeping with the essential prin­ciples of Judaism and halakhah.* Significantly, many of those changes, which were considered“radical,” eventually became widespread among Jews , regardless of denomination. Prayer in the vernacular, formal religious school education for females, and placing the bimah in front of the congregation were all Reform innovations. They became widespread both because

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