Reply To: Are the Reform and Conservative Still Jewish?

The “official” Conservative position on halocho is that we, meaning “rabbis” in the year 5771/2010, can change halocho because they allege that Rabbi Akiva and colleagues were able to. As they say in yiddish, sheine tzu shtel. The Rabbinical Assembly has a council of 25 voting rabbis who can change halocho, and they do. 5 non-voting lay members and 1 non-voting cantor. I have this strange feeling that if Chazzan Helfgott, arguably quite an outstanding cantor, an avowed Gerrer chosid (wears full Gerrer regalia always) would come to the rebbe and say that he thinks we should change the “minhag” (sic) of not watching TV on shabbos if it goes on with a clock, the rebbe may likely throw him out. But in the Rabbinical Assembly they listen to that cantor as a man of serious learning and knowledge. Hey, maybe he is. Rabbi Cynical keeps on saying that they uphold halocho. Yeah sure, but whose definition of halocho, Shulchan Orech authored by the Beis Yosef and annotated by Shach, Taz, Bach, Mogen Avrohom et al. Or the definition as promulgated by the Rabbinical Assembly.