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Solomon Freehof
 
 
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Solomon Bennett Freehof (August 8, 1892 – 1990) was a prominent Reform
Reform

Reform means beneficial change, or sometimes, more specifically, reversion to a pure original state.Reform is generally distinguished from revolution....
 rabbi, posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
, and scholar. Rabbi Freehof served as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Central Conference of American Rabbis

The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform Judaism rabbis in the United States and Canada....
 and the World Union for Progressive Judaism
World Union for Progressive Judaism

The World Union for Progressive Judaism describes itself as the "international umbrella organization for the Reform Judaism, Liberal Judaism, Progressive Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism movements." This overall Jewish religious movement is based in about 40 countries with more than 1,000 affiliated synagogues....
. Beginning in 1955, he led the CCAR's work on Jewish law through its responsa committee. He also spearheaded changes to Reform liturgy
Liturgy

A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Mass , or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish Jewish services....
 with revisions to the Union Prayer Book
Union Prayer Book

The Union Prayer Book was a siddur published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis to serve the needs of the Reform Judaism movement in the United States....
 (siddur
Siddur

A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
). For many years, he served as the pulpit rabbi at Rodef Shalom
Rodef Shalom Temple

Rodef Shalom Temple is a National Register of Historic Places landmark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania designed by architect Henry Hornbostel....
 in Pittsburgh, PA ).






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Solomon Bennett Freehof (August 8, 1892 – 1990) was a prominent Reform
Reform

Reform means beneficial change, or sometimes, more specifically, reversion to a pure original state.Reform is generally distinguished from revolution....
 rabbi, posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
, and scholar. Rabbi Freehof served as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Central Conference of American Rabbis

The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform Judaism rabbis in the United States and Canada....
 and the World Union for Progressive Judaism
World Union for Progressive Judaism

The World Union for Progressive Judaism describes itself as the "international umbrella organization for the Reform Judaism, Liberal Judaism, Progressive Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism movements." This overall Jewish religious movement is based in about 40 countries with more than 1,000 affiliated synagogues....
. Beginning in 1955, he led the CCAR's work on Jewish law through its responsa committee. He also spearheaded changes to Reform liturgy
Liturgy

A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Mass , or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish Jewish services....
 with revisions to the Union Prayer Book
Union Prayer Book

The Union Prayer Book was a siddur published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis to serve the needs of the Reform Judaism movement in the United States....
 (siddur
Siddur

A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
). For many years, he served as the pulpit rabbi at Rodef Shalom
Rodef Shalom Temple

Rodef Shalom Temple is a National Register of Historic Places landmark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania designed by architect Henry Hornbostel....
 in Pittsburgh, PA ). According to the congregation, "For more than 35 years, Dr. Freehof's weekly book review series attracted audiences of more than 1,500 Christians and Jews."

Personal life

Freehof was born in London, moved to the U.S. in 1903, received a degree from the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati is a coeducational public university research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ohio, part of the University System of Ohio....
 (1914) and ordained from Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College

The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, Hazzans, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism....
 (1915). He was a World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 army chaplain
Chaplain

A chaplain is typically a priest, pastor, ordained deacon, rabbi, imam or other member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organized as a mission or church , or who are unable to attend church for various reasons; such as health, confinement, or military or civil duties; Laity chaplains are also found in other settings such...
, a liturgy professor at HUC, and a rabbi at Chicago's Congregation Kehillath Anshe Maarav
K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Temple

The KAM Isaiah Israel Temple is the Oldest synagogues in the United States synagogue in Chicago, founded in 1847 as the place of worship for the KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation....
 before moving to Pittsburgh. He retired in 1966. He is descended from the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Lubavitcher Hasidism
Chabad

*Chabad is an acronym for Chochmah, Binah, and Da'at, the three levels of Sefirot related to cognition according to the Kabbalah.*Chabad-Strashelye, Strashelye is a branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism....
.

He studied halakhah with various Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
 rabbis, including Rabbi Wolf Leiter of Pittsburgh and Rabbi Yekutiel Yehuda (Leopold) Greenwald.

Lillian (nee Simon) Freehof, his wife, wrote plays, novels and children's books. They married in 1934.

Freehof was followed at Rodef Shalom, and in work on Reform responsa, by his protege, Dr. Walter Jacob
Walter Jacob

Rabbi Walter Jacob is a leader in Reform Judaism and an expert in the Reform Judaism's approach to Jewish law . A protege of Solomon Freehof, Jacob served at Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh as an assistant rabbi and as successor to Freehof as congregational rabbi ....
, who later established the Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah.

Sources


  • Cohn-Sherbok, Dan “Law in Reform Judaism : a study of Solomon Freehof” in Jewish Law Annual
  • Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol.7 p. 121
  • Friedman, Rabbi Dr. Joan. Solomon B. Freehof, the 'Reform Responsa', and the Shaping of American Reform Judaism doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, 2003
  • ___________. "The writing of 'Reform Jewish Practice and Its Rabbinic Background'" in CCAR Journal 51,
  • ___________. "A critique of Solomon B. Freehof’s concept of "minhag" and Reform Jewish practice" in Re-Examining Progressive Halakhah
  • Inventory of the Freehof papers, including a biography
  • Jacob,Walter et al., Eds. Essays in Honor of Solomon B. Freehof 1964 (A collection of 19 essays about Freehof, including a bibliography.)
  • Weiss, Kenneth J. “Freehof’s methodology as a Reform Jewish halachist” in Journal of Reform Judaism 32,


Selected works


  • Contemporary Reform Responsa, 1974.
  • Current Reform Responsa, 1969.
  • Modern Reform Responsa, 1971.
  • New Reform Responsa, 1980.
  • Reform Responsa, 1960.
  • Recent Reform Responsa, 1963.
  • Reform Responsa for our Time, 1977.
  • The Responsa Literature Hebrew Union College Press, 1955
  • Today's Reform Responsa, 1990.


  • "The Natural Law in the Jewish Tradition", University of Notre Dame Natural Law Institute Proceedings, v.15, p.15


  • Commentaries on Ezekiel
    Ezekiel

    This article is about the main speaker in the biblical Book of Ezekiel. For a summary and analysis of the book itself, see Book of Ezekiel.According to religious texts, Ezekiel was a prophet and priest in the Hebrew Bible who prophesied for 22 years sometime in the 6th century BC in the form of visions while exiled in Babylon, as recorded...
    , Isaiah
    Isaiah

    Isaiah is the main figure in the Biblical Book of Isaiah, and is traditionally considered to be its author. He was an 8th-century Before Christ Judean prophet who declared that all the world belonged to God and that God will destroy it....
    , Jeremiah
    Jeremiah

    Jeremiah was one of the 'greater prophet' of the Hebrew Bible. He was the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth.His writings are put together in the Book of Jeremiah and, according to tradition, the Book of Lamentations....
    , Job, Psalms
    Psalms

    Psalms is a book of the Hebrew Bible , included in the collected works known as the "Writings" or Ketuvim....
    , e.g., Book of Job, A Commentary. UAHC, 1958
  • Preaching the Bible: Sermons for Sabbaths and high holy days , 1974
  • Reform Jewish practice and its rabbinic background, 1952
  • The small sanctuary: Judaism in the prayerbook, 1942
  • Stormers of heaven, 1931