Britain’s Chief Rabbi Israel Brodie today convened an emergency meeting of all Orthodox rabbis and ministers in the country to be held here on Tuesday presumably to deal with the current crisis which developed over the appointment to the pulpit of the New West End Synagogue of Dr. Louis Jacobs over the objections of the Chief Rabbi. Some 300 Jewish clergymen are expected to attend.
Last week the Council of the United Synagogue, British Jewry’s governing synagogue body, discharged the officers and board of management of the New West End Synagogue after they defied the Chief Rabbi by appointing Dr. Jacobs to the post. The Chief Rabbi believes that Dr. Jacobs’ views are not in line with Orthodox Judaism.
The deposed synagogue board, meanwhile, called a meeting today of the 700 members of the congregation aimed at forming a new congregation not affiliated with the United Synagogue and with Dr. Jacobs as spiritual leader. Such a new congregation would be obliged to build or purchase a new synagogue building since the property of the New West End Synagogue belongs to the parent body, the United Synagogue.
In a last-minute attempt to solve the impasse, a “Unity Appeals Committee” has been formed in London to organize a petition which will implore the Chief Rabbi to review the case. The Committee will ask the Chief Rabbi whether a way could be found “to permit Dr. Jacobs to serve within the ranks of the United Synagogue.”
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.
