The CJLS has used this power on a number of occasions, most famously in the " driving teshuva ", which says that if someone is unable to walk to any synagogue on the Sabbath, and their commitment to observance is so loose that not attending synagogue may lead them to drop it altogether, their rabbi may give them a dispensation to drive there and back ; and more recently in its decision prohibiting the taking of evidence on Mamzer status on the grounds that implementing such a status is immoral.

" master of the house " in Aramaic, the local authority in Jewish law ), adopting the position he or she considers most compelling, even if it has not been approved by the CJLS.

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards ( CJLS ) of the Rabbinical Assembly has approved a number of decisions and responsa on this topic.

The CJLS has stated that this particular ceremony should not be performed.

The Conservative Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards ( CJLS ), consistent with the Conservative movement's general view of the role of Kohanim, has ruled that the practice of calling a Kohen to the first aliyah represents a custom rather than a law, and that accordingly, a Conservative rabbi is not obligated to follow it.

In fundamental ways Orthodox Judaism has a significantly different understanding of how halakha is determined ; thus Orthodox rabbis generally do not respect the decisions of the CJLS as valid or normative.

Gordon Tucker has argued that RA members should give " extraordinary weight " to CJLS decisions, while remaining free to disagree with then:

The CJLS has on a number of occasions accepted teshuvot which include moral and aggadadic reasoning alongside and within a precedent-based halakhic framework.

The CJLS has passed takkanot which significantly changes Jewish law.

The responsum abolished rabbinic laws restricting homosexual conduct other than male-male anal sex, concluding that the CJLS has authority to do this on grounds of the talmudic principle of Kavod HaBriyot ( which it translated as " human dignity ") on grounds that the existence of such sexual restraints represents an affront to human dignity as modern society perceives it.

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards ( CJLS ) of the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism has declared that Conservative Rabbis should not inquire into or accept evidence of mamzer status under any circumstances, rendering the category inoperative.

Because it is a body that is ultimately here to provide service and guidance to Rabbinical Assembly members, it is also right and proper that authoritative opinions not be categorized by the number of votes they received, and that they not be binding on Rabbinical Assembly members in a coercive sense, but rather only in the sense that we are bound by our covenant to one another to give extraordinary weight to CJLS responsa in reaching our own legal decisions.

* On December, 2006, a majority vote of the CJLS ( 13 members for ) also adopted a responsum " Homosexuality Revisited " by Rabbi Joel Roth maintaining the traditional prohibitions on homosexual conduct.

A later responsum on this subject was written by Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, and also accepted by the CJLS.

Because it is a body that seeks to coalesce judgment around particular halakhic opinions, and not simple to give voice to individually held positions, it is right and proper that six members of the CJLS be required to define an authoritative position.

The CJLS accepted a responsa which holds that if a person rides to synagogue on Shabbat with the intention of fulfilling various Shabbat mitzvot, and that if no other driving on Shabbat is done, than that person will not be held as being in violation of halakhah.

In 2006, the CJLS adopted three responsa on the subject of niddah, which reaffirmed an obligation of Conservative women to abstain from sexual relations during and following menstruation and to immerse in a mikvah prior to resumption, while liberalizing observance requirements including shortening the length of the niddah period, lifting restrictions on non-sexual contact during niddah, and reducing the circumstances under which spotting and similar conditions would mandate abstinence.

* The CJLS issued emergency takkanot effectively lifting biblical restrictions on Kohen marriages.

The CJLS does not view this as a change in Torah law, but rather as a lifting of a rabbinical prohibition that was rooted in social dynamics.

On December 6, 2006, The CJLS adopted three distinct responsa reflecting very different approaches to the subject.

On the one hand, four members of the Committee, Rabbis Joel Roth, Leonard Levy, Mayer Rabinowitz, and Joseph Prouser, resigned from the CJLS following adoption of the change.

Should an RA member choose, upon study and consideration, not to follow any CJLS position on a given matter, he or she would thus be unable to claim any authority or backing for that position from the CJLS, a " sanction " which in some circumstances could be substantial, in others not.

In doing so, the CJLS distinguished the Conservative approach to Jewish Law from the Orthodox approach, noting that Conservative Judaism regards Biblical law as only the beginning of a relationship rather than a final word, and that the Conservative movement regards it as its role and responsibility to revise Biblical law from time to time when such law conflicts with evolving concepts of morality.

A key practical difference between Conservative and Orthodox approaches is that Conservative Judaism holds that its Rabbinical body's powers are not limited to reconsidering later precedents based on earlier sources, but the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards ( CJLS ) is empowered to override Biblical and Taanitic prohibitions by takkanah ( decree ) when perceived to be inconsistent with modern requirements and / or views of ethics.

In Conservative Judaism, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards ( CJLS ) of the Rabbinical Assembly makes the movement's decisions concerning Jewish law.

In 1992, the CJLS action affirmed its traditional prohibition on homosexual conduct, blessing same-sex unions, and ordaining openly gay clergy.

The head of the Israeli Masorti movement's Vaad Halakha ( equivalent to the CJLS ), Rabbi David Golinkin, wrote the CJLS protesting its reconsideration of the traditional ban on homosexual conduct.

* Rabbi Danny Nevins, Living Law: A Journal of the CJLS Vote on Homosexuality and Halakhah, 16 Kislev 5767 / December 7, 2006

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards ( CJLS ) is the movement's central body on interpreting Jewish law and custom ; it was founded by the Rabbinical Assembly in 1927, with Max Drob as its first head.

Responsa by both the CJLS and the Va ' ad Halacha are equally valid, although the Va ' ad's emphasis is on issues pertaining to Israeli society.

The first Sigal and the Blumenthal responsa were considered by the CJLS as part of its decision on prayer roles in 1973.

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards ( CJLS ) declined to adopt either responsum.

Rabbi Siegel reported to the Rabbinical Assembly membership that many on the CJLS, while agreeing with the result, found the arguments unconvincing.

In 2002, the CJLS returned to the issue of justifying its actions regarding women's status, and adopted a single authoritative approach, the Fine responsum, as the definitive Conservative halakha on role-of-women issues.

By adopting this Responsum, the CJLS found itself in a position to provide a considered Jewish-law justification for its egalitarian practices, without having to rely on potentially unconvincing arguments, undermine the religious importance of community and clergy, ask individual women intrusive questions, repudiate the halakhic tradition, or label women following traditional practices as sinners.

* The CJLS, in declaring that its rabbis would not accept evidence or entertaining questions as to the existence of mamzerim, declared that Biblical law represents only the beginning of a relationship with the divine and that in the Conservative movement, biblical law can be overridden on grounds of inconsistency with contemporary morality because " Aggadah controls Halacha "

* In December 2006 a majority vote of the CJLS ( 13 members for, 12 against ) accepted a controversial responsum which allows homosexual Jews to become rabbis and cantors, " Homosexuality, Human Dignity, and Halakhah " by Rabbis Elliot N. Dorff, Daniel S. Nevins, and Avram I. Reisner.

In 2006, the CJLS shifted its position and paved the way for significant changes regarding the Conservative movement's policies toward homosexuality.

In 1973, the CJLS of the Rabbinical Assembly voted, without issuing an opinion, that women could count in a minyan.

* The CJLS effectively passed a takkanah ruling that women may be counted as witnesses in all areas of Jewish law.

In 1998, Gerry Boudreau, Chris Perry and Ray Zinck, all former employees of CJLS purchased CJLS.