Beyond the Letter of the Law: Essays on Diversity in the Halakhah

by Walter Jacob (Editor)

Another in the continuing series of publications from the Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah, a creative research center devoted to studying and defining the progressive character of the halakhah in accordance with the principles and theology of Reform Judaism.

228 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2004

About the author

Walter Jacob was an American Reform rabbi. He was rabbi at the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh from 1955 to 1997. He served as chairman of organizations such as the Central Conference of American Rabbis and World Union for Progressive Judaism. Jacob wrote a book, Christianity Through Jewish Eyes in 1974, leading to interfaith dialogue. He founded the Solomon B. Freehof Institute for Progressive Halakhah in 1991, an international forum for Jewish law. In Germany, he co-founded the Abraham Geiger College, the first rabbinic seminary in Central Europe since the Holocaust, in 1999.