The need for cooperation of all segments of South African Jewry emerged as the dominant theme of the Federation of Synagogues Conference that closed here today.
In spite of recent controversy between Orthodox and Reform Jews here, South African Jewry remained a united community in which the Orthodox could be expected to cooperate with other Jewish religious groups in all matters other than theology and worship, the conference concluded.
Rabbi Samson Weiss, executive vice-president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, who was a guest speaker at the conference, told the delegates that, although Orthodox Jews cannot allow Reform Jews “to adulterate our Judaism,” they must keep hate from marring their attitude toward Reform Jews.
Although many of the delegates endorsed the Johannesburg Beth Din (Jewish Religious Court) ruling that cooperation with Reform Jews in the religious sphere was impossible, they deplored the bitterness injected into the controversy by some members of the South African rabbinate.
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