A sharp conflict has arisen here between Deputy Isaac Gruenbaum and the Union of Orthodox Rabbis as the result of a letter circulated by the ministry of religion granting rabbis the right to vote at meetings of Jewish communities when executives are elected. On behalf of the Jewish National Council, Deputy Gruenbaum has addressed a protest to Slawomir Czerwinski, minister of public worship, indicating that the letter is illegal because only elected member of the communities are entitled to vote at elections, and not co-opted members such as the rabbis.
The minister’s letter, it is believed, is intended to support the Jewish clerical element, particularly in the small communities where the rabbis would have the decisive vote as regards the election of presidents. The Union of Orthodox Rabbis, replying to Deputy Gruenbaum’s criticism, points out that the minister’s letter merely reestablishes the old existing right of the rabbis to participate in the election of community presidents, a rabbi often being elected as president.
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.
