Evolving Halakhah A Progressive Approach To Traditional Jewish Law [Paperback]

An essential reference work for any thinking student of religion.

Innovative and provocative,Evolving Halakhahaffirms the system of traditional Jewish law, Halakhah, as a developing and moral structure, flexible enough to accommodate the changing realities of each generation. In this accessible analysis of Halakhah, Moshe Zemer issues a clarion call to follow the ancient and modern principles of evolving Halakhah, which demands ethical deeds, the discovery of holiness in the Commandments, a critical approach to the Tradition, and responsibility of the entire Community of Israel. These principles are viewed as the framework in which the other commandments are applied.

To Jews who sometimes see no choices but those of fundamentalist rigidity on the one hand, or total rejection of tradition on the other, Zemer argues instead for awareness of the inherent flexibility of the halakhic system. Halakhah, he argues, has had many voices, and has changed to meet every generation's needs. Equipped with this view, liberal Jews can reclaim their tradition from a conservative rabbinic establishment that all too oftenespecially in Israelhas seen the voice of strictness as more authentic than the voice of lovingkindness.

The product of Zemers thirty-five years of work in the Israel Movement of Progressive Judaism,Evolving Halakhahincludes chapters on matters ranging from personal status, especially marriage and conversion, through the political Halakhah of a response to the intifada. It shows that the traditional framework for understanding the Torahs commandments can be the living heart of Jewish life for all Jewsincluding Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative and Modern Orthodox.

For those of us who have argued that the traditional Halakhah [Jewish law] is far more open, pluralistic and compassionate than it has been made to be, Dr. Zemer now provides a detailed documentation of that position ... an indispensablc§