Conservative Leader Tells Reform Rabbis He Would Not Favor Merger ‘at Present Time’ Nadich for Pract

The president of the association of Conservative rabbis, Rabbi Judah Nadich of New York, told the 83rd annual convention of the Central Conference of American Rabble, the Reform rabbinate, today that his answer to the idea of merger of the two rabbinates “at the present time” would be “in the negative.”

The head of the Rabbinical Assembly added that he did not envision such a merger as likely “today or the day after” but he made a strong case for practical cooperation between the two rabbinic groups “where we already have common interests and common aims.” Before making his formal address, Rabbi Nadich indicated at a press conference that he thought the time might come when such a merger could take place.

Rabbi Nadich also said he foresaw the possibility of “closer relationships, in time, with our Orthodox colleagues,” adding that “their present militant intransigence will not last forever.” He cited the military chaplaincy program as an example of present cooperative programs involving the three rabbinical groups. A survey reported at the convention here yesterday indicated that three out of four Reform rabbis reject a three-way union of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism but a majority of the 1000 CCAR members were favorable to the idea of an eventual union with the Conservative rabbinate.

RABBI POLISH SEES END TO ALIGNMENTS

Rabbi David Polish, president of the CCAR, said in his presidential address last night that the Nuremberg laws of Nazi Germany, the Nazi genocide

Rabbi Polish said the overwhelming question in Jewish life now was survival and the theological principles which give survival transcendent meaning “are not susceptible to denominational categories.”