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Rabbi Richard S. Rheins

41. 42. 43. 44. 45,

Mishhah Shevi’it 10:3-4. Elon, Jewish Law , pp. 53 For instance, Terumah 14b; Berakhot 63a.

Gittin 60b.

According to tradition, the written Torah conveys hidden meanings through

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the use of spellings and symbols that would be missed if one only heard the Torah .

It was believed that certain profound thoughts should be conveyed orally so they could be fully explained. If the profound thought is written down and is read without instruction or commentary, the true meaning may be missed. Rashi to Gittin 60a, s.v. Et la-asot; Rambam in his introduction to Mishneh Torah.

Kesef Mishneh to Rambam ’s Mishneh Torah, Nedarim 3.9, s.v. U-le-inyan.

See also, Mishneh Torah, Shabbat 2.3.

Many Reform congregations during the“classical period”(approximately 1880-1960) de-emphasized kashrut and promoted the vernacular. Neverthe­less, Hebrew and to a far lesser extent Jewish dietary laws(especially during Passover) were still very much in evidence in Reform congregations. Today, most Reform congregations use a much greater percentage of Hebrew in their services and“Biblical Kashrut”(i.e., no pork or shell fish may be served) has become the norm.

Protestant Christianity is an instructive paradigm for what happens when localized groups of religious leaders are free to legislate and innovate with­out limits. Today there are thousands of Protestant denominations. Most of those communities have splintered off from other denominations in a dis­

pute over liturgy or doctrine. Most of these denominations were established within the last 150 years in the United States . In contrast, over the past two thousand years, notwithstanding the distance between Jewish communities (both culturally and geographically) in the Diaspora, and the horrible ordeals that these far-flung communities have endured, there is remarkable unity of spirit and practice and there have been but a handful of different

Jewish denominations.

Avot d’R. Natan 1:5.

JTNedarim 9:1. A case in point is the promulgation of restrictions added by Eastern European Ashkenazim on what is permitted during Passover. One finds Rabbis of every generation and of every denomination who have voiced concern that excluding kitniyot(e.g., rice, legumes, corn), as if they were hametz, imposes such a hardship on the diet of Jews that many would despair of trying to keep any form of pesadik. For a wonderful review of the halakhic opinions on both sides of the kitniyot issue, see S.Y. Zevin , The Festi­vals in Halachah, vol. 111, pp. 111-127.

In general, Reform Jews insist on a clear demarcation between issues of Communal Religious /Ritual concern and their personal lifestyle decisions. For example, a Rabbi and/or synagogue’s authority to set the time, date, and standards of services is generally accepted. But the decision concerning a

family’s degree of kashrut is zealously guarded by the individuals.