The New York Board of Rabbis reiterated today its opposition to the present divorce law of the State of New York which permits divorce only on grounds of adultery, asserting that the law had not only not discouraged divorce but had also encouraged perjury and divorces in “divorce mills” in other states.
The stand was taken in one of a series of resolutions adopted by the board at its 80th annual meeting at which Rabbi Harry Halpern of Brooklyn, N.Y., was elected president. The rabbis also asked legislative action to correct application of Sunday closing laws against Jewish merchants who observe the Sabbath by closing their business establishments on that day.
In another resolution, the rabbis criticized recent efforts “to obtain public funds for private and parochial school education, ” in “violation of our understanding of the hallowed principles of church-state separation. ” The rabbis specifically announced opposition to any legislation “to compel local municipalities to provide public funds for the transportation of private school children.” The delegates also urged that “public institutions such as the public schools” should be free of teachings of “sectarian religious principles.”
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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.
