Uojca Returns to Sca, but Denies Reform, Conservative Legitimacy

The board of directors of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America voted yesterday 68-56 to end its one-year suspension from the Synagogue Council of America, Harold M. Jacobs, UOJCA president, said the move was taken at this time “to help unify the Jewish people in this hour of grave crisis for Israel, Soviet Jewry and the world Jewish community.”

At the same time, the board was unanimous in asserting that “continued participation (in the SCA) was not to be interpreted as religious recognition of other ‘branches’ within Judaism or their spokesmen,” and that the board’s decision “was not to be viewed as a rejection of the spiritual authority or religious leadership of those who had urged withdrawal from the Synagogue Council of America.”

The issue centered on the question of whether UOJCA membership in the SCA implies recognition of the Reform and Conservative movements which also belong to the SCA. Jacobs affirmed, after the vote yesterday, that there was no question so far as the UOJCA was concerned that it never has and never will recognize the religious legitimacy or authority of the Reform and Conservative movements.

“The UOJCA’s participation with such groups in the SCA has, therefore, no ideological or religious significance above and beyond the Orthodox Union’s desire to cooperate with all segments of the Jewish community on issues of common concern,” Jacobs said. “We hope that the Orthodox Union and its members can now proceed in unity to the strengthening of the Torah values which concern us all.”

RAA DENOUNCES MOVE

The UOJCA action, however, was challenged by the Rabbinical Alliance of America which expressed its shock and dismay. Rabbi David Hollander, RAA president, denounced what he termed “the wanton violation of the halachic ban on membership in the Synagogue Council of America. This is the first time in history that rabbis who are regarded as Orthodox have urged and pleaded with the laity within the Orthodox Union to act contrary to a halachic ruling issued by outstanding halachic authorities of our time.”

Rabbi Hollander called upon the organized Orthodox rabbinate and other Orthodox groups to “stand solidly behind the sanctity of the halacha and to use every just and legitimate means to deal with those who are responsible for the defiance of the authority of the halacha.”