How Responsa Make Meaning: The Case of Non-Jewish Holidays
Jewish Ideas to Change the World
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (media.transistor.fm) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Mark Washofsky
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Solel
About The Event:
Reform Judaism has long taught and preached that our tradition permits us to participate fully in the life of the surrounding culture. But the sources of that tradition seem to communicate a very different message. In our session, we’ll read how two responsa—one Reform and one Orthodox—translate those sources into decisions that draw a (hopefully) proper balance between Jewish distinctiveness and citizenship in the wider world. In doing so, we’ll consider how responsa work to make contemporary meaning out of some very old sacred texts.
About The Speaker:
Mark Washofsky, emeritus professor of Rabbinics at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, is chair of the Solomon B. Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah. His academic publications focus upon the literature of Jewish law (halakhah) and the application of legal theory to the understanding of the Jewish legal process. He served as chair of the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 1996-2017. He is the author of Reading Reform Responsa: Jewish Tradition, Reform Rabbis, and Today’s Issues and of Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice.
★ Support this podcast ★