Eleven American Orthodox Jewish organizations have written to President Carter, expressing opposition to the inclusion of women in any national registration for re-activation of the draft. The groups have formed an Orthodox Jewish Coalition on Registration of Women for the Selective Service System, claiming to represent the entire spectrum of American Orthodox Judaism.
The President was told that “the highest rabbinic authorities have ruled that Jewish Law prohibits Jewish women from responding to any form of conscription,” which would place them in an “irreconcilable and unprecedented conflict between the requirements of their faith and the law of the land.”
Calling the idea one signalling “a fundamental and profound upheaval in the role of women in our society,” the coalition urged that, at the very least, such an issue “should not be considered in an emotionally charged atmosphere of dramatic and fast-moving foreign developments.”
The coalition which addressed Carter consists of: Agudath Israel of America, Central Rabbinical Congress of the United States, National Council of Young Israel, National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs, National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, Rabbinical Alliance of America, Rabbinical Council of America, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, United Lubavitch Organization, and United Satmar Community.
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