Rabbi Bernard Rosensweig, president of the Rabbinical Council of America, sharply denounced a recent proposal by Rabbi Alexander Schindler president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, that Jewish religious identity be extended to persons born of a non-Jewish mother if the father is Jewish.
Addressing the opening session yesterday of the mid-winter conference of the Robbinical Council which represents more than 1000 Orthodox rabbis in the U.S. and Canada, Rosensweig said these new guidelines proposed by Schindler “threaten the unity of the Jewish people and will have a disastrous and catastrophic impact upon world Jewry.” Rosensweig warned that “To create a sect of pseudo Jews and to introduce such havoc and confusion into Jewish ranks is an act of wanton irresponsibility which will inflict irreparable harm upon the Jewish people” He observed that “It is tragic and ironic that Reform leaders are seeking legitimacy and recognition in Israel precisely at a time when they are initiating this policy of destructiveness. Such contempt for Jewish unity and survival warrants our sharpest denunciation and we call upon the rank and file to protest sharply and to thwart the implementation of a program which can only cause confusion, heartache and intra-group hostility among the Jewish people,” Rosensweig said.
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