Introduction Xiii

in Europe and continuing in America . Ruth Langer has used the funeral for her study. Even in this normally very conservative portion of religious life where everyone wishes to adhere to old laws and traditions, the influence of America has been great. The Hebrew essay of Samuel Adler represents the scholarly effort of a German rabbi, who later settled in America , as he sought to root changes in the status and practices of women in the halakhah. The essay represent a portion of the vast array of Reform Jewish thought on these and associated questions.

Although each essay investigates one avenue of this development, together they demonstrate how different the American approach to the halakhah and Jewish religious thought has become.