Rabbi Mordecai Waxman, president of the Rabbinical Assembly, predicted tonight that women will be admitted to membership in the Rabbinical Assembly, the rabbinic branch of Conservative Judaism, within the foreseeable future. In his presidential address opening the Assembly’s 75th anniversary (Diamond Jubilee) convention at Grossingers Hotel here, Rabbi Waxman cited this as an example of the organization’s flexibility and its policy of adapting traditional Judaism to changing times. The convention opened following a special convocation of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America at which 63 rabbis were presented with honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees by Chancellor Gerson Cohen.
“There is no generation gap in the Rabbinical Assembly although more than sixty years separate its youngest and oldest members,” Rabbi Waxman observed. He defined the unifying ideology of Conservative Judaism as “a commitment to the preservation of Jewish tradition and to the idea that it has to be compatible with conditions imposed by the American landscape and by new intellectual developments.”
He pointed out that the Conservative movement had grown to be the largest Jewish religious group in America in its 75-year history and that the fact of this policy, making the movement the “normative form of American Judaism,” had proven to be successful. “We have operated with a strong pragmatic sense and with an institutions sense for the life of tradition of our fellow Jews. We have sought a middle road. We have never been tempted to push theories to extremes as the Reform and Orthodox have done,” Rabbi Waxman said.
Referring to the admission of women to the Rabbinical Assembly, Rabbi Waxman said that “While it was set forth in a responsum in 1955 that women be allowed to be called to the Torah, this decision did not begin to be implemented in any great degree (each rabbi and congregation ultimately makes their own decision) until the issue of women’s rights became a major issue in the society as a whole and in Jewish life in the 1970s….The issue, indeed, is already settled. The question of the entry of women into the Conservative rabbinate, for example, is not a matter of whether, but when.”
PROBLEM FACING U.S. JUDAISM
The great problem facing American Judaism, Rabbi Waxman said, is the developing of a religion that meets the needs of the individual. “The heart of the problem,” he stated, “is the fact that we are not getting across the sense of Judaism as a religion which lends meaning and significance to the life of the Individual. Yet this is precisely what a great many people are looking for in a time when spirits are low and causes have vanished.”
Continuing, he declared that providing a “compelling” and life-integrating Judaism is not being done successfully by anyone today. “It has almost certainly never been achieved by any generation of Jews which has lived in a relatively free non-ghetto situation. It is certainly not being achieved in Israel today. A casual Judaism cannot be a causal Judaism. What is really needed is the creation of a religious revival, rather than an institutional revival which characterized the 1950s,” Rabbi Waxman said.
SCORES ADMINISTRATION’S REASSESSMENT
Discussing Israel, he said that for Jews “the welfare of Israel is not a political issue, as some of our fellow religionists of other faiths seem to think, it is a central religious issue whose origins are in the Bible and the prayer book and the rituals of our faith,” While “applauding” American help to Israel, he said that “we strongly deplore the double-talk and double-think which seems to be involved in the Administration statement about the reassessment of American policy in the Middle East.’ It seems to indicate American weakness where there should be strength. We have yet to hear of Russia abandoning its friends.”
On Israel’s present and future negotiations with the Arab countries, the Conservative leader said, “We strongly believe that Israel does seek peace and should accept the risks for peace, We do not believe, in the light of the rich experience of broken agreements, that an apparent peace today which endangers national existence tomorrow is a reasonable risk.”
Referring to international affairs generally, Rabbi Waxman urged the United States to “have the will and the strength to maintain a decisive posture….It must be strong enough to resist oil blackmail and industry takeovers which threaten the welfare of the American people….” On Jewish issues, he said America must “reassert our concern for the welfare of not only the Jews of Israel but also for the Jews of the Soviet Union and Syria and all other places where they are in danger.”
He urged the Conservative movement to “participate in the internal Jewish political process, together with other branches of Conservative Judaism, and officially be represented in the decision-making bodies sponsoring relationships between Israel and the diaspora, the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency. This is where the action is, and we cannot be side-line spectators.”
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