An Orthodox leader threatened today that acceptance by Conservative Jews of a proposal to change from a compulsory two-day observance of three Biblical festivals to one day as practiced in Israel “might lead to formal action of excommunication of the deviationists.” The plan assailed by Rabbi Bernard Weinberger, president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, was proposed by Rabbi Ralph Simon, president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the rabbinic body of Conservative Judaism, at its 69th annual convention. It was attacked yesterday by two other Orthodox leaders, Rabbi Zev Segal, president of the Rabbinical Council of America, and Rabbi Joseph Karasick, president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations. Rabbi Weinberger denounced the plan as a “shockingly insidious encroachment upon hallowed Jewish tradition” and said that if it were adopted, the Orthodox community would “totally divorce itself from any contact with Conservative and Reform Jews.”
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.
