In our last installment, we saw that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ruled that Reform weddings do not create halakhically valid marriages. In this installment, we'll see that another leading American Orthodox posek, Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, rejects Feinstein's decision in no uncertain terms. Not, to be sure, because he thinks highly of Reform Judaism, but because he tells a very different story about the Jewish community of his time. It makes one think about the role of storytelling in halakhic decision.

Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast .

In this installment we consider the (in)famous decision of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the preeminent 20th-century Orthodox posek in North America, concerning Reform Jewish weddings. Spoiler alert #1: he thinks that they do not produce valid Jewish marriages according to halakhah. Spoiler alert #2: his ruling served a purpose that all of us progressive types can support, even if what he says about us is vituperative and insulting. As we like to say in the halakhah ​business: it's complicated. Which is why it's so interesting.

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Two Jews walk into a church (stop us if you've heard this one!). They get married there, in a Christian ritual, with a priest as the officiant. Does halakhah recognize this marriage as valid under Jewish law? Some rather serious consequences ride on the answer to this question. In this installment, we consider the answer offered by a leading sage of the 15th century.

Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast