Joan S. Friedman

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sweeping endorsement of popular creativity, there is, in fact, a limit to his enthusiasm for it. The customs he will describe as Reform Jewish Practice are not the sum total of what Reform Jews do; rather, they are only those parts of the behavior of Reform Jews to which he and the rest of the CCAR have given their approval. In other words, the rabbis do not merely“organize”; they actively approve and disapprove and shape Jewish behav­ior. On the whole, then, while Pesahim 66a does justify at least some authority for popular creativity, Freehof’s own life’s work indicates that that authority is not without limits.

3.Y. Yevamot 12:1(12c¢)

M. Yevamot 12:1 reads:“Halitzah takes place before a court of three judges, even if all three are laypeople. If he released her with a shoe made of leather, it is valid; with a shoe made of cloth, it is invalid: with a sandal with a heel, it is valid; but without a heel it is invalid.”

The relevant passage for Freehof is:

R. Ba b. Judah[said] in the name of Rav: If Elijah should come and say that they perform halitzah with a leather shoe, they listen to him. If he should say that they do not perform halitzah with a san­dal, they do not listen to him. For the community is accustomed to perform halitzah with a sandal, and custom overrides the law. R. Zeira[and] R. Jeremiah[said] in the name of Rav: If Elijah should come and say that they do not perform halitzah with a leather shoe, they listen to him. If he should say that they do not perform halitzah with a sandal, they do not listen to him. For the community is accustomed to perform the rites of halitzah with a sandal, and cus­

tom overrides the law. ?

In both versions of this slightly garbled Amoraic pronounce­ment, the first supposed decision from Elijah relates to the shoe which the community does not use. Whether he tells them it may be used or it may not be used, this statement is to be regarded as authoritative. In the former case, he would be confirming the Mishnah and, in the latter case he has the halakhic standing to forbid that which the Mishnah permits. In both versions, how­ever, his second supposed decision would prohibit that which the community customarily practices. Nevertheless, Elijah does not have the halakhic standing to force the community to alter its