The Cantors Assembly of America, representing cantors connected with Conservative congregations, announced today it would contest in the courts a ruling by a Chicago judge that marriages performed by cantors were not valid in Illinois.
The ruling by Judge David A. Canel evoked a statement last week from the Chicago Board of Rabbis, representing all three branches of Judaism, that the proper role for a cantor was to chant appropriate liturgical portions of the ceremony at which a rabbi should preside.
Cantor Pavel Slavensky, president of the Cantors and Ministers Association of Chicago, representing cantors of all three branches of Judaism, criticized that statement and said that rabbis and cantors “should settle their differences on the wedding question at a conference table instead of in the public prints.” He said his association was drawing up a proposal on the issue to submit to the rabbinical board.
The cantor also deplored “the many statements” on the issue “that only confuse the public, especially the non-Jewish public.” He said that only “a handful” of cantors were actively engaged in performing marriages, but he added that cantors reject the idea they should be singled out as a group and not given the right to officiate at weddings when Jewish religious law permits any Jew with the requisite training and religious background to recite the blessing which binds husband and wife.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
