A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice: A Conservative guide to Jewish law
From the 1950s to 1970s, Rabbi Isaac Klein wrote a comprehensive guide to Jewish law which was used to teach halakha at JTS. In 1979 he assembled this into "A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice", which was published by the Conservative movement as a halakhic guide for the laity. It is now in its second edition (1992).
It is based firmly upon previous law codes, including the Mishneh Torah, the Tur, the Shulkhan Arukh, and later responsa by authoritative Conservative and Orthodox authorities. This code includes the decisions of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly (RA) and Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) in the same way that rabbis of preceding generations added their rulings to older works.
It is unlike other codes of law because it was sponsored by a large assembly of halakhic rabbis, the Rabbinical Assembly. Thus "A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice" is not one man's opinion, as other law codes frequently were, but in fact is the collective understanding of halakha by the Conservative movement. This approach is in many ways more authentic and true to the traditional halakhic process than the common Orthodox alternative, which leaves such decisions to individual rabbis. Chapters of it are now available on line at:
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/diduknow/jrpguide/
This book should not be regarded as being all that the Conservative movement has to say on any given subject; silence on any given topic should not be construed to mean that the topic is considered irrelevant. The guide, while comprehensive, makes no attempt to cover all the myriad aspects of Jewish law, as defined in the codes and responsa literature. If you have any questions on topics that are not covered by the guide, consult your local rabbi.
Responsa (Teshuvot)
Five volumes of Conservative responsa are currently available; more are in preparation. They are:
- Proceedings of the Commitee on Jewish Law and Standards: 1980-1985 (one volume)
- Proceedings of the Commitee on Jewish Law and Standards: 1927-1970 (three volume set)
- The Ordination of Women as Rabbis, Ktav (one volume).
These are available from the United Synagogue Book Service.
e-mail: Booksvc@uscj.org
http://www.uscj.org/mall/bookservice.htm
From the 1920s to 1950s Prof. Louis Ginzberg was the Conservative movement's most important legal decisor. A volume of his responsa is now available from JTS Press.
http://www.jtsa.edu/pubs/titles.html
Phone (212) 678-8842 e-mail: publications@jtsa.edu
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/diduknow/lgresponsa/
The Va'ad Halakha (law committee) of the Masorti movement in Israel has published six volumes of their teshuvot. They are in Hebrew, with English summaries, and are available from:
http://www.masorti.org/ e-mail: masorti@masorti.org
The Institute of Applied Halakhah
The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, POB 8600
Jerusalem 91083 Israel
A Conservative layperson, Yehuda Wiesen, has written an informed and instructive booklet on this subject. He notes:
Many Conservative Jews have a strong desire to learn some ritual Halacha but have no ready source of succinct information. Often the only readily available information about ritual Halacha presents an Orthodox viewpoint. This booklet is meant to provide an introduction to selected practical Halachic topics from the viewpoint of Conservative Judaism....I have written this pamphlet because I, as a layperson, found it very difficult to find the information presented here. It began as an exercise in self-education and evolved into an attempt to address the lack of a simple, short summary of Conservative halacha. It is intended for those Conservative Jews who are a point on the learning curve where they may find such a short summary helpful. Even though it is meant to be a useful guide, when questions concerning halacha and observance arise a Rabbi should be consulted.
Visit this webpage!
http://www.personnelselection.com/halacha.htm
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