Editors' Introduction

Abstract

To our great sadness, this issue includes yet again a tribute to a colleague who has passed away since our last publication, Rabbi Eugene Borowitz. Gene, as he was known by friends and colleagues, was a giant in the field of Jewish theology and ethics. Indeed, he was a pioneer in this field in the mid-twentieth century, when few other faculty at Jewish seminaries were prepared to delve into the subject's foundational issues. The inaugural issue of this journal was devoted to a critical appraisal of his work. He trained and mentored at least two generations of rabbis and scholars, and the two of us were among those who benefitted from his guidance. Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, yet another of his students, provides a fitting tribute to Gene's influence as both scholar and teacher. He will be deeply missed.`In the JJE's ongoing commitment to fostering conversation around important themes and issues in the field, this issue includes a roundtable on contemporary approaches to feminist theology and halakhah. David Ellenson's essay, originally given as the Simon Rawidowicz Memorial Lecture at Brandeis University in 2015, forms the basis of this collection. He surveys the work of three key feminist thinkers who represent different, if related, perspectives on revelation, the interpretation of sacred text, and the ways in which halakhah can and should adapt to changing historical circumstances. His essay, drawing on Rawidowicz's own theory of commentary in Judaism, focuses on the work of Rachel Adler, Tamar Ross, and Ronit Irshai. Each of them offers her own response to Ellenson's presentation in which she clarifies her own position in relation to those of her colleagues. Taken together, this symposium tackles some of the most profound and fundamental challenges faced by all contemporary Jewish ethicists in their effort to remain faithful to the values and insights of our tradition, while also allowing for new moral insights to emerge out of those same classical sources.Jeffrey Rubenstein, in a paper delivered at the 2016 Society of Jewish Ethics meetings, offers a detailed analysis of the halakhic category of the goses, a person who is very seriously ill and assumed to be on the verge of dying. The goses, according to many sources, should not be given medical treatments that would prolong his or her life. This traditional teaching figures prominently in virtually all contemporary discussions of end-of-life care. Rubenstein meticulously analyzes the history of the term goses and challenges those authorities, particularly J. David Bleich, who have argued that the goses is defined as someone who will certainly die within three days. Rubenstein's paper demonstrates that there is not substantial basis for this view and that most authorities actually understand the term in less restrictive terms, which in turn has broad implications for the way contemporary authorities might make use of this concept.As this issue concludes our second full year of publication, we feel gratified by the reception of these first issues and even more by the fact that we continue to receive submissions from authors representing a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds. With your ongoing support, we expect to continue building on this now well-established foundation of important and accessible scholarship in Jewish ethics and theology. For our mission is both to showcase the very best contemporary thinking about Jewish ethics and related fields, and also to stimulate ongoing conversation about those issues, both within these pages and beyond. We invite you to join the conversation.