From Germany to Jerusalem, from Community to State: The Separate Paths Taken by Neo-Orthodox Jurists Abraham Chaim Freimann and Isaac Breuer

In the past, the entire community was Torah observant, but in the present reality of the Yishuv it would not be possible to leave legislative authority entirely in the hands of the religious public. Realizing that the balance of power in the Yishuv made it impossible for the Haredim to impose their halakhic worldview on the secular community, he focused on enabling religious Jews to live in a Jewish State according to the halakhah, free of secular coercion, by means of broad community autonomy. Despite the fact that Freimann and Breuer shared a vision of statehood based on Torah law, the policies they envisaged were poles apart. Both Freimann and Breuer died before the establishment of the State of Israel and did not have time to complete what they had begun, regarding the vision of adapting halakhah to the new political reality or even taking part in formulating procedures and legislation concerning religion and State relations in Israel.