CCAR Says Vote on Mixed Marriages Was Illegal Asks Nybr Board of Governors to Review Conduct of Meet

The Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Reform rabbinate, has asked the Board of Governors of the New York Board of Rabbis to meet to consider a complaint by the CCAR that a vote by the NYBR on June 29 barring membership to rabbis officiating at mixed marriages was illegal. The request was contained in a letter to Rabbi Harold Saperstein, Board chairman, from Rabbi Joseph Glaser, CCAR executive vice-president.

Rabbi Saperstein, asked to comment, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he had not yet received the letter and would prefer not to comment until both he and other NYBR officers could study the letter. Rabbi Glaser said in the letter that he was requesting a meeting of the Board of Governors early in Sept., when “proper notice” can be given members and to avoid any conflict with the High Holy Days at the end of Sept.

“The purpose of the meeting would be to review the events leading up to the meeting of the Board of Rabbis on June 29, and the conduct of that meeting, and to consider the request that I am now making that the Board of Governors declare the meeting of June 29 illegal because of the counting of the votes of men who came, voted and left before the debate, the call for the question and the action vote.” Rabbi Glaser declared.

VOTING PROCEDURE TERMED ILLEGAL

He said the procedure, which had been “insisted upon” by Rabbi William Berkowitz, NYBR president, “is an illegal procedure because it is clearly voting by absentee ballot, and where the constitution of an organization does not provide for absentee balloting, it cannot be permitted.” He added that the fact that Rabbi Berkowitz “was able to get approval from the group for such counting of absentee ballots does not make the procedure any more legal.”

Rabbi Glaser also contended that the 32 of the 36 absentee ballots which were for the amendment barring from membership performers of mixed marriages “thereby accounted for the amendment carrying by a two-thirds majority. Without those 32 votes the amendment would have failed.” The amendment also bars membership to rabbis who refer to colleagues couples seeking a rabbi to perform such a marriage.

Both Rabbi Berkowitz and Rabbi Glaser had agreed that the number of Reform rabbis who resigned from the NYBR in protest was between 25 and 30. However, Rabbi Berkowitz gave the number of Reform rabbis who are NYBR members as 250, making the proportion of resigning Reform rabbis about 10 percent. Rabbi Glaser told the JTA that no more than 100 New York area Reform rabbis belonged to the NYBR.