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The Author Responds

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This response addresses methodological and historical contentions regarding deliberate change in Halakhah (Jewish law). The author challenges Professor Morell's assertion that instituting deliberate changes in Halakhah would result in complete loss of legal foundations, arguing that many legal systems undergo conscious change without disintegration. Through systematic historical analysis, the study demonstrates that Talmudic Rabbis were fully conscious of their creative role in formulating takkanot and gezerot, citing examples such as Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai's fundamental reshaping of Judaism's focus from Temple to Sanhedrin. The methodology examines hermeneutic rules, textual interpretations, and explicit Rabbinic statements to establish that deliberate legal innovation was both practiced and acknowledged. The research reveals that Rabbis openly discussed their transformative work, including their virtual abrogation of Biblical capital punishment laws and their creative interpretive processes. The author concludes that contemporary rabbis should employ both precedent-based and deliberate methods of legal change, following Talmudic precedent, while addressing the viability of observant Conservative Jewish communities. The findings support a responsible approach to halakhic innovation that maintains traditional authority while enabling necessary legal evolution.

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    Published 1974

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    Elliot Dorff