Jewish marriage laws were discussed here today at an all-day conference on Jewish law attended by 100 rabbis under the sponsorship of toe Rabbinical Assembly of America. Meeting at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the parley reviewed the hardships now being experienced by many Jewish women as a result of the Jewish law which prohibits remarriage where their husbands have been reported missing, but where absolute proof of death is not available.
Rabbi Louis Epstein, a leading authority on Jewish law, voiced the hope that a new supreme judicial body nay come into existence with the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine. He hoped that this 20th-century “Sanhedrin” will dedicate itself to the task of making the Jewish law operative normally “in the life of a normal people.”
Addressing the conference on the “Principles of Change in Jewish Law,” Rabbi Jacob Agus proposed the establishment of a Jewish Academy made up of selected rabbis, scholars and laymen who would regularly review all phases of Jewish doctrine and practice. “The term ‘Jewish Academy’ is chosen,” he said, “to suggest a resemblance to the French Academy and to eschew the notion of claming the authority of the ancient Sanhedrin.”
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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.
