A rule forbidding Conservative rabbis from officiating at weddings held in places where kashruth is not observed has been adopted by the Northern New Jersey region of the Rabbinical Assembly of America, according to an announcement by Dr. Jeshaia Schnitzer, of Montclair, president of the region. He said the rule will go into effect next January 1. Commitments made prior to the adoption of the rule, he declared, should be fulfilled.
The resolution adopted by the rabbis of this region declared: “In order to emphasize the sacred character of the wedding ceremony, the members of the Rabbinical Assembly of Northern New Jersey will henceforth officiate at wedding ceremonies only in those places where dietary laws are observed. Restaurants, catering establishments, or hotels that do not provide kosher facilities for a wedding will henceforth be regarded as unsuitable places for holding the wedding ceremony.
“Furthermore, we urge our congregants to give preference to the synagogue or home in which to hold the marriage ceremony in order to indelibly impress upon bride and groom the essential role that these two institutions should play in conserving the previous traditions of Jewish life.”
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