Dr. Mark E. Washofsky has been a member of the HUC-JIR faculty since 1985, most recently serving as Professor of Rabbinics, and specializes in the literature of the Talmud and Jewish law. He received his rabbinical ordination (1980) and Ph.D. (1987) from HUC-JIR. Dr. Washofsky chairs the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. His extensive publications include Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice (URJ Press, 2000), Teshuvot for the Nineties (with W. Gunther Plaut, CCAR, 1997), and essays and articles on Reform rabbinic responsa, Jewish bioethics, outreach and conversion, prayer in the vernacular, abortion, medieval and liberal Halakhah, the right to die, and AIDS and ethical responsibility, among others.