94 Rabbi Richard S. Rheins
Reform and Conservative Jews , we must state more clearly its authenticity vis-a-vis the Orthodox model.
Robert Gordis eloquently expressed the frustration many of us feel toward the extremist halakhic methodology of the Ortho dox . In The Dynamics of Judaism he wrote
“It is ironic that in our day when the doctrine of papal infallibility is being challenged even in the Catholic Church , a novel doctrine of rabbinic infallibility is being advanced in fundamentalist Jewish circles. In order to suppress any movement for change in the halakhah, we are told that it is forbidden to question, let alone disagree with, the views of a given scholar or group of scholars, because they represent da-at Torah ,“the true meaning of Torah .” This gift has been vouchsafed to them because they are the mystical embodiment of divine truth. Such a doctrine, designed to stifle discussion and controversy, was never advanced in the past by any of the thousands of Talmudic Sages, by Saadia or his adversaries in the tenth century, by the advocates and opponents of Maimonides in the thirteenth, or even by the adherents of the Shulhan Arukh and its rabbinic opponents in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.’
Halakhic literature is replete with inspiring models of dynamic flexibility that demonstrate rabbinic creativity. The long and proud history of Judaism 's spiritual and intellectual development was due in no small part to the courageous innovations and accommodations established and promoted by halakhic authorities(poskim) in every generation. Progressive halakhah strives to learn from these models and emulate them.’
While traditional halakhic methodology can be quite flexible, and in the hands of enlightened authorities throughout Jewish history has proven to be a most creative tool, most current Ortho dox poskim are emphasizing the preservative and conservative properties of halakhah, not its progressive qualities.” Moshe Sofer (Hatam Sofer ) was a harsh critic of Reform—not only the Reform movement, but of the very idea that Judaism can change and evolve. He wrote:“Hadash assur min ha-Torah ”(anything new is forbidden by the Torah !)" For him even local custom took on the urgency and importance of the Torah itself. As one Orthodox rabbi described him, the Hatam Sofer “would brook no deviation from the custom of his country that women cover their heads so that not even a single strand of hair be visible, a custom based upon a teaching of the Zohar.”12
Notwithstanding the prevailing trend among Orthodox authorities toward ever-greater restrictions and conservative
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