The intention of the Conservative rabbinate in this country of changing the text of the traditional Hebrew marriage contract — the Kesubah — was assailed here today at a convention of the Rabbinical Council of America, an Orthodox group.
Addressing the convention, Dr. Theodore Adams, president of the organization, said that the proposed change is “nothing more than a publicity stunt” and “an attempt to” break down basic traditions that are holy. ” He claimed that the proposed change would do nothing to eliminate domestic friction. “Judaism has survived by linking itself to the past and not by breaking with the past,” the leader of the Rabbinical Council declared.
Rabbi Adams scored the present American policy of refusing permission to American Jews to visit Holy Places now under Jordan jurisdiction. “There is ample precedent for the United States to intercede when the rights of any group of its citizens are challenged,” he said. “We recall that President William Howard Taft. broke off diplomatic relations with Russia in his day because American citizens of the Jewish faith were denied admittance to certain areas where Russian Jews were not permitted to live.”
Rabbi Israel Klavan, national executive secretary of the Council, reported the organization now has a membership of more than 550 Orthodox rabbis from the U.S. and Canada. A convention luncheon was held today in honor of 70 new members who were admitted into the council during the past year.
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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.
