The Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada yesterday charged the Rabbinical Assembly of America, the association of Conservative rabbis, with plans “to change the Jewish marriage ritual.”
A resolution unanimously approved by 400 delegates at a one-day conference of the Orthodox rabbis asserted that “Conservative rabbis do not have the knowledge or authority to issue decisions on matters of Jewish Law.”
Rabbi Meyer Cohen, executive director of the UOR, said the resolution referred to a proposal approved at a recent conference of the Rabbinical Assembly. The proposal dealt with the problem of the “agunah,” a term for Jewish women who under Jewish Law cannot obtain a religious divorce for several reasons.
Rabbi Aaron H. Blumen that of Mount Vernon, N. Y., president of the Rabbinical Assembly, said that the Assembly only authorized a committee to restudy the problem.
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