- 98- Walter Jacob
Orthodoxy. From an orthodox point of view the kind of choices that we continue to make about ritual are unacceptable, while from a Reform point of view, they lead to an attachment to tradition and a warmer feeling toward it. Basic distinction however remains as we do not accept the entire body of the commandment as divine. As Freehof analyzes what we accept, what is accepted and what is rejected, he pointed out that Reform has accepted a greater number of positive commandments which have a direct impact as well as negative commandments with a direct moral impact and most of all in minhagim. He felt in this way Reform had moved from an age dominated by philosophy to one in which psychology was the greatest importance. Our Reform reunion with halakhah reflects an appreciation for rabbinic literature as well as increased comradeship with the traditional community.
In Responsa for our Time(1977) Solomon B Freehof principaily dealt with responsa as a source of history both for the incidental facts that they reveal about Jewish life and the mood of religiosity or neglect which they reveal. His accumulated volumes of Reform responsa provide the same kind of insight into our changing religious life in the middle of the twentieth century. The same theme is continued in his introduction to New Reform Responsa(1980) with its emphasis on Reform as a continually changing religion rather than one which remains eternally and everywhere the same.