Rabbi Focuses on Problems Affecting Well-being of the Jewish Community

To the synagogue’s problem of “that vanishing institution, the Jewish family,” once the bulwark of Jewish life, must now be added the phenomenon of the rapidly growing divorce rate and its result–the single parent.

This, the “chilling impact” of the declining birthrate and the increasing age level of congregational membership cry out for top priority action, according to Arthur J. Levine, president of the United Synagogue of America, the association of Conservative synagogues. Some 2000 delegates attended the United Synagogue’s biennial convention which ended here today.

Little or nothing has been done about the problem of integrating the single parent into congregational life “except by offering it lower congregational dues status. To maintain a sense of Jewish identification in a home where there are two parents sharing the responsibility is difficult enough,” Levine declared in his presidential address, marking the end of his second and final two-year term. “How much more difficult is it when there is only one. The problems do not increase arithmetically but geometrically. I would suggest that it is not only more difficult but impossible.”

Levine declared that it is the task both of the rabbis and the lay leaders of the Conservative organization “to seek out these families and offer them the guidance and support necessary for their survival not just as people but also as Jews.”

He expressed disappointment that the United Synagogue had not been able to “create a meaningful pilot program for the older members of our congregations.” If the percentage of older people was high in preceding years, “It is higher today,” he said. “In 1972, 32 percent of our membership was over 55. Today that figure will be closer to 38 percent.”