The executive committee of the United Synagogue, British Jewry’s principal synagogue body, voted last night to recommend the removal of officers of the New West End Synagogue, a constituent congregation which last week defied the authority of the United Synagogue and the Chief Rabbi by appointing to its pulpit Dr. Louis Jacobs, over the objections of the parent body. The United Synagogue owns the premises of the New West End Synagogue as it does that of all its constituent congregations. Chief Rabbi Israel Brodie has withheld approval of Dr. Jacobs’ appointment to the post because of the latter’s concept of Judaism which, Rabbi Brodie felt, was out of step with Orthodox Jewish teaching.
The executive committee resolution, which will come before the Council of the United Synagogue Thursday, recommends the removal from office of the two wardens of the New West End Synagogue, the financial representative, and the members of the synagogue’s board of management. In their place, the resolution recommends that the administration of the synagogue be placed in the hands of four members of the United Synagogue Council.
The resolution is based on the charge that the present officers of the New West End Synagogue, by allowing Dr. Jacobs to occupy the pulpit on two occasions, contravened the by-laws of the United Synagogue which state that no person is allowed to officiate in a house of prayer of the United Synagogue without a certificate from the Chief Rabbi.
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