the Sabbath according to Earth time, or mark it once every seven day/night cycles (ten and a half hours). And if according to Earth time, then what location on Earth should this be based upon? The rabbis concluded that he was to celebrate the Sabbath in accordance with Earth time, based on the place of his departure, Cape Canaveral. Conservative responsa Conservative Judaism holds that Orthodoxy has deviated from historical Judaism through excessive concern with recent codifications of Jewish law. Conservative rabbis make a conscious effort to use historical sources to determine what kind of changes occurred, how and why they occurred, and in what historical context. With this information they believe that can better understand a proper way for rabbis to interpret and apply Jewish law to our conditions today. Like Orthodoxy, there is no one legal body that speaks for all Jews in their religious community. When defined narrowly as the Conservative movement'', Conservative Judaism has two law committees: In the USA there is the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly. The CJLS is the body that sets halakhic policy. There are 25 voting members on the committee who determine whether or not to enact a specific responsa. The responsa are written after a member of the Rabbinic Assembly or the Conservative movement in general poses a question about Halakha. A responsa is deemed approved when at least 6 member of the committee vote to approve it. Despite the fact that CJLS makes decisions about the rulings of responsa, which stands as the decisions for the entirety of the Conservative Movement, individual rabbis can still make their own decision about how to rule on specific circumstances within their communities. In the State of Israel there is the Vaad Halakhah of the local branch, the Masorti movement. See also Halakha Rabbi Oral Torah Posek References External links The Bar Ilan Responsa project "Sages of Ashkenaz" Responsa collection Orthodox Responsa Index The Responsa of Professor Louis Ginzberg (OLD copy, from web.archive.org, since apparently the original is no longer on the web, at the same URL). Masorti and Conservative Jewish responsa Topical index of non-binding Reform Jewish responsa Rabbinic Judaism Sifrei Kodesh