A general ban on all conversions to Judaism by all rabbinic organizations in the United States was urged here today by Rabbi David L. Silver, of Harrisburg, Pa. Addressing the 21st annual convention of the Yeshiva University Rabbinic Alumni, Rabbi Silver warned that “the situation has reached such dangerous proportions that, unless there be a mighty counterthrust, the American Jewish community will be snowed under by an avalanche of part Jews.”
As an alternative proposal, Rabbi Silver called on leaders of all Orthodox rabbinic organizations to meet and establish a central agency to handle all cases of conversion. “Under such a set-up,” he said, “the pressure on the local or individual rabbi would be removed, and such an agency would be able to proceed with the adequate probings and testings as to fitness and dependability” of potential converts.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
