Contribution
Novak has contributed to Jewish ethics by advocating a Jewish social ethics drawn from both the natural law tradition and Halakha. To this end, he interprets the rabbinic approach to Noahide laws as a useful grounding for cross-cultural moral reasoning. His expertise includes Maimonides, John Courtney Murray, and Paul Tillich. In his theology, he combines Jewish rabbinical tradition and logic with Christian teachings.
Novak, together with Peter Ochs, Tikva Frymer-Kensky, and Michael Signer, drafted a full-page advertisement which appeared in the Sunday, 10 September 2000 edition of The New York Times under the title "Dabru Emet (Speak Truth): A Jewish statement on Christians and Christianity". Among the eight theological statements which the advertisement briefly laid out were: "Nazism is not a Christian phenomenon"; "Humanly irreconcilable differences between Jews and Christians will not be settled until God redeems the entire world as promised in Scripture"; and the statement which generated the most controversy in Jewish circles, "Jews and Christians worship the same God". The advertisement was signed by 160 rabbis, including many leading Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative thinkers and a handful of Orthodox rabbis known for their interfaith work. Explaining his rationale for publishing the document, Novak told Jweekly: "I want Jewish readers to clearly realize that Christians are not necessarily our enemies. Quite the contrary, they can be very good friends to Jews and Judaism". The document was subsequently translated into eight languages.
His specific normative claims in Jewish ethics include a mix of liberal and right-wing positions. An ordained rabbi, Novak had been affiliated with the Conservative movement in Judaism and then shifted to the Union for Traditional Judaism.
Read more about this topic: David Novak
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