Rabbinical Assembly Urges Exemption for Jews from Sunday Laws

Observers of the Jewish Sabbath and others who observe any day other than Sunday as their Sabbath should be exempted from Sunday closing legislation, delegates to the 59th annual convention of the Rabbinical Assembly of America declared today.

This stand was taken in one of a series of resolutions adopted at the convention of Conservative rabbis. The 500 delegates also affirmed the principle of an official High Holy Day prayer book for the Conservative movement, and instructed its Prayer Book Commission to give first priority to the project.

The delegates instructed the organization’s executive council to assure that the manuscript be owned by the organization, and stipulated that no prayer book produced by any individual hereafter is to receive official endorsement by the Rabbinical body.

In another resolution, the delegates decided to continue the system of marriage counseling and other media for the preservation of Jewish family life. One of the media is the Conservative Beth Din, or Jewish Court, which deals with problems in the field of marriage and family relations.

A report to the convention indicated that the Beth Din and the marriage counseling service, established under Rabbinical Assembly auspices, have proven helpful in solving many marital difficulties involving application of Jewish law to marriage and divorce.

Rabbi Isaac Klein, of Buffalo, N. Y., who was elected to a second term as president, said his second administration would seek to increase “the spiritual emphasis in the life of the community and in the life of the individual. ” He added that, during the coming year, the Conservative rabbinate would “seek closer cooperation with our reform and Orthodox colleagues in all areas of Jewish religious life.”