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

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

rabbi,

posek In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities a ...

, and scholar. Rabbi Freehof served as president of the

Central Conference of American Rabbis The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. I ...

and the

World Union for Progressive Judaism The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) is the international umbrella organization for the various branches of Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism, as well as the separate Reconstructionist Judaism. The WUPJ is based in 40 countries ...

. Beginning in 1955, he led the CCAR's work on Jewish law through its responsa committee. He also spearheaded changes to Reform liturgy with revisions to the ''

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. History An original version of the prayer book was published in 1892, based on th ...

'' (

siddur A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, '' ...

). For many years, he served as the pulpit rabbi at Rodef Shalom 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."Rodef Shalom Congregation, Pittsburgh, PA - More information

Personal life

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

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

(1914) and ordained from Hebrew Union College (1915). He was a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

army chaplain, a liturgy professor at HUC, and a rabbi at Chicago's Congregation Kehillath Anshe Maarav before moving to Pittsburgh. He retired in 1966. He is descended from the

Alter Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi ( he, שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of ...

, the founder of Lubavitcher Hasidism. He studied

halakhah ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

with various

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

rabbis, including Rabbi Wolf Leiter of Pittsburgh and Rabbi Leopold Greenwald. Lillian (née Simon) Freehof, his wife, wrote plays, novels and children's books. They married in 1934. The couple had no children. Freehof was followed at Rodef Shalom, and in work on Reform responsa, by his protégé, Rabbi Dr.

Walter Jacob Walter Jacob (born 1930) is an American Reform rabbi who was born in Augsburg, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1940. He received his B.A. from Drury College (Springfield, Missouri, 1950) and ordination and an M.H.L. from Hebrew ...

, 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 * ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', Vol.7 p. 121 * Friedman, Rabbi Joan. "'Guidance, Not Governance': Rabbi Solomon Freehof and Reform Responsa", (a 2013

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. * Friedman, Rabbi Joan. "The Making of a Reform Rabbi: Solomon Freehof from Childhood to HUC," American Jewish Archives Journal, 58/1-2 (2006): 1-49. * ___________. "The writing of 'Reform Jewish Practice and Its Rabbinic Background'" in ''CCAR Journal'' 51, * Friedman, Rabbi Joan. "A Critique of Solomon Freehof's Concept of Minhag and Reform Jewish Practice." In ''Re-examining Progressive Halakhah, Studies in Progressive Halakhah'', ed. Walter Jacob and Moshe Zemer, 111-133. NY: Berghahn Books, 2002. * 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,

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...

Job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

, 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

Users

* 1976:

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.The Solomon B. Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freehof, Solomon 1892 births 1990 deaths American Reform rabbis English Jews World War I chaplains United States Army chaplains Rabbis in the military 20th-century American rabbis