(1892-1990). Reform rabbi and theologian. Freehof was born in London but at the age of 11 moved to the United States. Ordained at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, his first position was at his alma mater, where he taught Liturgy. Some of his greatest contributions were in fact to the rubric of Reform Jewish prayer. Under Freehof's chairmanship, the Committee on Liturgy of the Central Conference of America Rabbis produced the two-volume Union Prayer Book (1940-1945) and the Union Home Prayer Book (1951). At a later stage (1959-1964), he served as President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. After ten years (1924-34) as the rabbi of a Reform congregation in Chicago, he was appointed rabbi of Pittsburgh's Rodef Shalom Temple.
It is in the field of Responsa that Freehof is best known. Exhibiting remarkable erudition, he answered thousands of questions in all fields of Jewish law, whether from rabbis, communities, or private individuals. His sources in most cases were the Orthodox codes and responsa, but with a Reform perspective which allowed for many more factors to be taken into account than the written source material allowed. In keeping with basic Reform belief, none of Freehof's responsa were meant to be binding, but were intended as guides in the decision-making process of the person who had asked the question.
In addition to his work on the Union Prayer Book, Freehof also published The Responsa Literature (1955) and A Treasury of Responsa (1963), both of which deal with the classical responsa literature. He also published six volumes of his own Reform responsa, dealing with such topics as secular music in the synagogue, gambling for the benefit of a synagogue, surgical transplants, the use of tobacco, and marrying a transsexual. Many other responsa by Freehof are also to be found in American Jewish Responsa: Jewish Questions, Rabbinic Answers (1983).
