The destruction of the first and second Beit Mikdash, which were at the center of worship for the Jewish people during both the first and second temple period, greatly changed the Jews outlook on the world. Before the destruction, Jews only followed halacha (Jewish Law) based on the Torah because it was all they had even known. Now, after the destruction of the second Beit Mikdash, the Jewish people had to adapt in order to survive. The major adaptation made was in addition to written law, the Jewish people developed the Torah Shebaal Peh, or oral law. Both written and oral law contain traditional aspects that the Reform movement may not agree with. It is immensely important when choosing how to follow halacha to educate oneself on both because although different, they are equally important to the Jewish world.
Written law is written, which translates to being set in stone and unable to be changed. This can be both positive and negative for many reasons. Some believe that halacha should never be changed, so they appreciate the written law. On the other hand, some believe the law should be able to adapt to modern times, and the fact that it is written down does not allow us to do so. The written law does however have many positive aspects, one huge one is that it is impossible to forget the law due to the fact we have a text to refer back to. The written law is also said to be, “the law given to Moses at Sinai”, this shows that it is the law the Jewish people should follow, because God gave it to them. The downside to written law is that it cannot be adapted or changed. Due to the fact society was drastically different when we received the Torah, the laws are much harder for Am Yisrael to follow. The Reform Movement needs to educate themselves on written law even if they do not choose to follow it because it has in it what God commanded to Moses the day he stood on top of Mount Sinai when he received the Torah. The reform movement cannot disregard what Judaism is based on, but also shouldn’t be forced to follow such outdated rules.
Unlike written law, oral law has the freedom to change, and be adapted into modern society. This allows room for interpretation along with modernization. Over the years, people have been able to slightly modify oral law since it is not set in stone. Towards the end of the first century, Rabbi Akiva greatly changed the oral law by organizing it into six books. This made following Jewish law easier due to the fact the Jews could find a specific law and determine how to follow it. At around 200CE, Rabbi Akiva’s organization of oral law was finished by Yehudah HaNasi into what we now call the Mishnah. Around 300 years later, Rav Ashi completely the Babylonian Talmud, a combination of Mishna and Gmarah (commentary on the Mishnah.) The Talmud’s main goal is to debate Halacha and interpret its meaning and the means to how to follow it. An example of this is keeping kosher, which can be interpreted into many different ways such as not eating meat and dairy together, only not eating pig and much more. From a positive and more Reform movement perspective, it’s possible that we have the ability to interpret Halacha in multiple ways. This way everyone is able to take what they believe in from the oral law and follow it in a way that helps them most while still maintaining Jewish tradition. For the same reason that Reform Jews have a positive outlook on oral law, Orthodox and Conservative Jews view oral law as negative. This is because the ever changing rules make it possible for the Jewish people to follow one law dozens or even hundreds of different ways. The orthodox see this an issue because it is increasingly difficult to unite the Jewish people when we cannot even follow the same law. Oral law contains both positive and negative aspects as it changes with society.
I believe as a reform Jew is is perfectly okay to interpret Halacha with our modern society. As long as the Reform movement still acknowledges the law given to Moses at Mount Sinai along with what is written in the Torah, we should be able to adapt Halacha. This way we are able to live in the modern day society while keeping the tradition alive. In Reform Judaism it is important to remember our history, but it is more so crucial to keep the religion alive. If the best way to do so it to interpret laws into modern society, I think by all means we should adapt. Although there are many different types of Judaism, we are still all one people and have the same goal: to see Judaism thrive. Instead of arguing over the modernization of Halacha, we should celebrate that people care so much about Judaism they go to the means necessary to adopt it into their modern lives. As Jews, we have a duty to this world to be the best people we can be, if that means being a reform Jew, then we should celebrate that instead of shun people for not being Jewish enough. Because, we are Reform Jews due to the fact that we reform Halacha.
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