A gainst Method 53

different halakhic communities. We have seen that the Zionist halakhists and their Orthodox opponents operate on the basis of fundamentally different sets of assumptions as to how the Jewish legal tradition speaks to the question of sovereignty and statehood. When Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli writes in such evident frustration that“we will not debate with” the anti-Zionists , he is merely affirming that on these issues the two groups comprise separate and distinct interpretive communities, so that further discussion is pointless. Lacking the common definitions and professional discourse that are the sine qua non for productive argument, neither side can hope to persuade the other of the rightness of its own view. The two communities cannot resolve their disagreements by appeal to a“metaprinciple,” a value neutral halakhic method that adjudicates impartially between their competing interpretations. Again, no such method exists, for any decision-making rule can function only within the practice of a particular halakhic community, as part of the shared assumptions and techniques that direct the conversation of its practitioners. As it is, the failure of the two groups to arrive at a common discourse is evidence of the absence of any sort of method for determining objectively correct answers.

For similar reasons, we should not be surprised at the continuing Orthodox rejection(to which I alluded at the beginning of this paper) of the ideas and insights put forward by liberal halakhists. Keep in mind that liberal halakhic writers present their interpretations, which cover such matters as liturgical practice, the role of women in synagogue ritual, Shabbat and festival observance, kashrut, marriage and divorce law, and more, in standard halakhic terminology. Well supported by text citation and analysis, these liberal responsa are framed in what looks and sounds like traditional halakhic discourse; in other words, they discuss the same questions and read the same texts as those found in Orthodox responsa on the subjects at hand. Yet none of this seems to matter to Orthodox rabbis, who simply ignore liberal responsa, something they would never do to the