So. African Orthodox Rabbis to Cancel Boycott of Reform Rabbis

South Africa’s Orthodox Rabbis were expected today to cancel a boycott of Reform rabbis and thus end a sharp dispute within South African Jewry which became so heated that the general press carried reports on “religious war” in the Jewish community.

The dispute broke out when Rabbi Ahron Opher came to South Africa from Chicago to become the senior rabbi of Johannesburg’s United Progressive Jewish Congregation, the leading Reform synagogue. He made a number of statements embodying the classical Reform opposition to the Jewish Dietary laws. He also criticized Johannesburg’s Orthodox-based Jewish day schools. The Orthodox rabbinate responded heatedly and issued a boycott against attendance at any Jewish or communal functions at which a Reform rabbi was present.

A heavily attended meeting of the Federation of Orthodox Synagogues approved a resolution today appealing to the Orthodox rabbinatet to withdraw the boycott. Dr. Israel Bersohn, who presided at the meeting of congregational leaders, said that the boycott decision had been taken without consultation with the lay leaders. He said the lay leaders understood the resentment of the Orthodox rabbis but felt that religious strife should not be carried out into the secular field in which both groups had previously acted in harmony.

He cited the appeal from the late Judge Kuper and a letter from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, containing a similar appeal. He then reported on a letter from the Orthodox Rabbis Association, declaring they would accede to the appeals and end the boycott if the Federation’s resolution for an end to the boycott included a criticism of Rabbi Opher’s remarks. Such a criticism was then incorporated in the resolution.