HOW DOES THE UTJ FORMULATE ITS POSITIONS ON HALAKHAH?
Among the greatest resources available to the UTJ are our world-renowned scholars, some of whom participate in our Panel of Halakhic Inquiry. The Panel fields difficult questions of Jewish law from lay people and rabbis around the world. Thus far, the UTJ has published two volumes of Panel responsa entitled Tomeikh ka-Halakhah, covering issues found in all four sections of the Shulchan Arukh. Topics include: synagogue ritual practices, issues of kashrut (dietary laws), questions related to marriage, and the definition of a “qualified” Bet Din (Jewish court). A third volume is now in progress. Panel member Rabbi Wayne Allen, in his introduction to Tomeikh ka-Halakhah vol. 2, makes the following observations on the methodology of the Panel: “The Panel of Halakhic Inquiry shuns monolithic extremes in favor of a more refined, thoughtful, and sophisticated approach based on the commands of Jewish law and not merely on the demands of advocacy groups. For the Panel, the substance and process
