It is the role of the halakist and posek to uphold the Jewish people's side of the agreement, fulfilling the covenantal pact by revealing new layers of Torah.
(40) His belief that the Torah is a Torah of life motivated all of Berkovits's actions as a halakist. As he so earnestly explained to his teacher, R.
He felt that halakah was still in exile in the state of Israel and that Israeli halakists still had a silted mentality, not that of a people living in a sovereign state.
Weinberg wrote an approbation to Berkovits's book in which he expressed his sympathy with Berkovits's approach and called upon leading halakists to examine Berkovits's arguments.
Here is where one finds the great divergence between Conservative halakists and Berkovits, despite what appear to be outward similarities.
Furthermore, as has already been mentioned and bears repeating, there is also a real distinction to be made between Berkovits's approach and that which is found among Conservative halakists. The latter believe in updating halakah due to changing values in wider society.
As Berkovits puts it, on the very last page of Not in Heaven, today's halakists
The contemporary halakists also do not know how to properly balance competing values.