Between Tradition and Modernity: Decision-Making-Processes in the Responsa Written by David Zevi Hoffmann

How challenging was the process of decision making for a German Jewish Orthodox Rabbi and respondent in the 19th and the early 20th century? This question shall be at the heart of my analysis of the responsa written by David Zevi Hoffmann (1843-1921), one of the greatest halachic authorities in his time in German Orthodox Jewry, who, up from 1873, worked at the new Rabbinical Seminary founded by Azriel Hildesheimer (1822 – 1899) and who became the new director of the Rabbinical Seminary after Hildesheimer’s death. In a lot of questions addressed to Hoffmann the inquirers mention problems and uncertainties due to the difficulties of the time such as emancipation, contact with the non-Jewish community and Reform-Movement-innovations. Thus, Hoffmann has to answer questions as follows: How can one carry out one’s compulsory military service when it could likely violate the Sabbath? What should a Rabbi do if his congregation wants to impose organ-music on weekdays? Are young children permitted to take their books to a school on Sabbath? In the lecture, I intend to show how David Zevi Hoffmann stages and how he explains his decisions when dealing with these problems. I want to analyse if and in which responsa David Zevi Hoffmann stresses a decision-making-process by presenting different alternatives to answer the questions, or if and when he merely presents his answer as a deduction of law. Furthermore, I want to highlight which semantic devices Hoffmann uses in order to conceal the complexity in a decision-making-process. Last but not least, I am going to present which sources Hoffmann cites in his answers: Does he only use halachic sources or are there quotations from secular sources as well? And how does he use the quotations in his line of argument?