The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the Rabbinical Council of America announced today in separate statements that the two Orthodox organizations will it participate in the Interreligious Conference in Boston on May 7 of which the Synagogue Council of America is one of three co-sponsors. The other two sponsors are the National Council of Churches and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The SCA is made up of the six major congregational and rabbinical associations of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism. The two Orthodox groups have been under constant criticism from other Orthodox organizations for their membership in SCA. (The Ford Foundation has given a grant of $36,500 to the Synagogue Council of America to support the interfaith conference in Boston. The Foundation said the grant was given to the SCA as the fiscal agent for the conference.)
Dr. Joseph Karasick, UOJCA president said that the organization’s board of directors also had decided not to authorize the participation of the SCA in similar conferences hereafter. Since each of the six constituent agencies has a veto, the board’s decision means that the SCA cannot participate in such gatherings after the May 7 conference. Rabbi Pesach Levovitz, president of the Rabbinical Council, said that his organization was asking that the May 7 conference be postponed and that the request for postponement was not accepted.
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