Tillman on Legal Development in the Common Law System

Dear Chief Rabbi: 

In light of the current pandemic ... can I ask you and your colleagues to reconsider the question of whether during week days (including Chol HaMoed), a “minyan” could meet virtually using technology? Please consider the query in the alternative: [1] using technology such as Zoom, where the 10 participants could see and hear one another; and, [2] using less advanced technology, where the 10 participants can only hear one another. 

It might be helpful to consider that even in normal circumstances, when a minyan’s 10 members are in one another’s physical presence, we regularly count persons using hearing aids & other similar implants. A minyan meeting remotely might be considered an extension of principles already regularly adhered to as a matter of common practice. 

Hoping you and your family are enjoying the last days of Passover,

Seth

Seth Barrett Tillman, Lecturer

Maynooth University Department of Law 

(academic affiliation for identification purposes only)

Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘Purim & My Bangladeshi Friend,’ in Gadfly: Culture that Matters (Feb. 11, 2013), <http://www.gadflyonline.com/home/index.php/purim-my-bangladeshi-friend/>. 

-------------------

Seth Barrett Tillman, Tillman on Legal Development in the Common Law System, New Reform Club (Apr. 13, 2020, 8:54 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2020/04/tillman-on-legal-development-in-common.html>;