54 Mark Washofsky

responsa of other Orthodox rabbis with whom they disagree. Liberal halakhic opinions are never cited in Orthodox legal discourse, except when the goal of the particular Orthodox writer is to demonstrate the heresy of the liberals and to prevent misguided members of his own community from drawing the conclusion that such ideas might be valid halakhah.'” Some liberal halakhists, unwilling to take“no” for an answer, do try to argue their way into Orthodox halakhic conversation. They will contend that their responsa are examples of “kosher” halakhah because they meet the formal test of halakhic validity: that is, they are supported by talmudic reasoning and are authored by scholars who are loyal to the halakhic system. Yet Orthodox rabbis still brand these responsa as halakhically illegitimate. The reason for this is that a“formal test for halakhic validity” is a methodological principle, intended to serve as a neutral and objective index of correctness. And as I have argued, such“method” does not exist outside of and apart from the accepted practice of a particular community of interpretation. Although Orthodox halakhists do cite formal rules and methodological principles in their writings, they do so as Orthodox rabbis. The rules and principles will always yield an “orthodox” conclusion, because they will and must be applied and determined by practitioners who see themselves as forming a distinctly Orthodox community of halakhic interpretation. Orthodox rabbis do not accept liberal pesak as a correct interpretation of Jewish law, not because some formal method constrains them to reject it, but because it is rendered by apikorsim, outsiders, Jews who by definition dwell outside the boundaries of halakhah. They cannot admit us and our ideas into their halakhic conversation and remain a self-consciously Orthodox community. No matter what we say, no matter how well we argue our positions, our words strike Orthodox ears as a foreign language, a conversation other than halakhah. Attempts by liberal scholars to convince Orthodox observers of the correctness of our own understandings of Jewish law are therefore doomed to fail'?*

NLL. MPT El Le)

AR