With respect to the Halakha, Brandwein (2001) argues that change is also a reality but also notes that many changes lead to increasing orthodoxy rather than the new liberalism that has been associated with the American legal system. Novak (1980) believes that two principles have regulated the growth of Jewish law in the past. The first was the necessity to respond to new external conditions while the second was the need to give recognition to new ethical insights and attitudes. Reasoned change is believed by Novak (1980) to be at the core of change in Jewish law. American law is obeyed because of the capacity of the American judicial system to impose penalties upon those who violate the law (Hall, et al, 1996). Jewish law, in contrast, is obeyed because an individual chooses to do so out of a sense that this duty is owed to God. The key difference here is that Americans owe their obedience to the law of a state whereas Jews perceive the Halakha to be divinely inspired and their obligations therefore vested in God. Rosenthal, G.S. (2002). Halacha: Divine or human? Midstream, Legal History. New York: Oxford University Press. Sinclair, D. B. (1992). The interaction between law and morality Corwin, E. (1971). The Higher Law Background of American |
