Friday, December 14, 1919 19
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Rabbi Schindler Urges Recognizing Jewish Lineage
of Mixed Marriage Offspring Through Father Too
TORONTO (JTA) — A
revolutionary change in
Jewish Law that would re-
gard the child of a mixed
marriage as Jewish, if
either parent was Jewish,
was proposed by Rabbi Ale-
xander Schindler, president
of the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations
(UAHC), at the UAHC's
55th General Assembly
meeting in Toronto.
Some 4,000 delegates, re-
presenting nearly 750 Re-
form synagogues in the
United States and Canada,
heard Schindler call on the
Reform movement to
change the 2,000-year-old
Jewish tradition that a
child's religion is deter-
mined by the religion of the
mother. He urged the
validation of Jewish lineage•
through the pater'nal as
well as the maternal line.
Schindler's proposal was
rejected by both Chief Rab-
bis of Israel, but hailed by a
leading American Conser-
vative rabbi. Ashkenazi
Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren
,told reporters in Jerusalem
that Schindler's proposal
was aimed at "the windpipe
of Judaism." Its meaning
was the destruction of
Judaism.
Sephardic Chief Rabbi
Ovadia Yosef said he was
not surprised to hear
such a proposal coming
from the Reform move-
ment. He cited the Tal-
mud as saying: "The son
born to a gentile, is
likewise a gentile."
Rabbi Harold Schulweis,
of Encino, Calif., secretary
of the Rabbinical Assembly,
hailed Schindler's proposal
as "a courageous idea that
goes to the heart of the
struggle for Jewish survi-
val." He said the suggested
change was "based on the
reality principle — the
growing intermarriage rate
among young Jewish
people."
In his presidential ad-
dress last Friday night,
Schindler declared: "The
status of a Jew should be
conferred on any child,
either of whose parents is
Jewish, provided they both
agree to raise their child
Jewishly and do so." He
called on the congrega-
tional, rabbinical and semi-
nary bodies of Reform
Judaism, in cooperation
with the Conservative
movement, to "initiate a
decision-making process"
that would lead to valida-
tion of Jewish lineage
through the paternal as
well as the maternal line.
A major factor cited by
Schindler in urging the his-
. toric change is that the
Jewish intermarriage rate
is currently approaching 40
percent, with the "prepon-
derant majority" of such
marriages involving Jewish
men and non-Jewish
women.
Schindler said he also
saw the issue as part of
the "struggle for the
equality of the sexes," a
major precept of Reform
Judaism. In this instance,
he said, "we are trying to
protect the rights of
men." Citing rabbinic
sources, he said that
Jewish tradition pro-
vided "ample justifica-
tion for a paternal as well
as a maternal yardstick."
He explained that "tradi-
tion invokes the God of our
fathers in prayer. It rules
that we be summoned to the
Torah by our father's name.
It reminds us that we live by
Zechut Avot (the merits of
our fathers)." Schindler also
observed that in ancient
Jewish Law, only the pater-
nal line is held relevant in
matters of inheritance and
some aspects of geneology.
In a related development,
the majority of converts —
86 percent — taking part in
a scientific study of conver-
sions, were reported to feel
that it is important to give
their children a serious con-
tinuing Jewish education
and almost all of them re-
ported they intended to give
their children such an edu-
cation.
This was one of the find-
of what was described
as the first scientific effort
to assess the impact of the
conversion experience on
the convert, on his or her
born-Jewish spouse and on
their non-Jewish and
Jewish families.
A report on the study,
titled "New Jews: The
Dynamics of Religious
Conversion," was re-
leased at the UAHC con-
vention.
The study found converts
become more active Jews as
the length of their lives as
converts increased.
The study made a number
of recommendations. One
was that conversion courses
should deal with the emo-
tional aspects of conversion.
Another was that rabbis
should stay in contact with
their converts after the con-
version ceremony. Another
recommendation was to
encourage converts to join
synagogues.
Meanwhile, Shimon
Peres, chairman of Israel's
opposition Labor Party,
pledged, full support for
"recognition of all streams
of Judaism" in Israel and
outlined a nine-point pro-
gram for religiou§ freedom
to be presented at the Labor
Cassin Award
for Human Rights
MEXICO CITY (JTA) —
The Rene Cassin Human
Rights Award was estab-
lished recently by the Cen-
tral Jewish Committee and
its bi-monthly publication
Tribuna Israelita which is
celebrating its 35th an-
niversary.
The prize, named after
the late international jurist,
diplomat, author and win-
ner of the 1968 Nobel Peace
Prize, will be awarded
yearly for the best article on
human rights written by a
Mexican.
Party's convention next
June.
In a speech to the
UAHC convention, Peres
pledged that when the
Labor Party returns to
power in Israel,.it would
"make sure" that Israel's
religious institutions "act
within the framework of
legal authority" and that
" no pressure or coercion
will be used to interfere"
with the public or private
lives of Israel's citizens.
Rabbi Schindler declared
that the Reform movement
would intensify its demands
for full religious equality in
Israel.
Schindler disclosed that
plans are now being drawn
for a legal challenge to pre -
sent restrictions against Re-
form rabbis in Israel. He
said that "the government
of Israel — be it Likud or
Labor — must know that we
reject the refusal of Israeli
religious authorities to
permit Reform rabbis in Is-
rael to marry or bury their
congregants or to teach or
accept converts."
It also was learned that
the UAHC has launched a
program to help Russian
Jewish immigrants to the
Know for whom you toil,
whether he can be trusted to
pay you for your labor.
U.S. become integrated into
the American Jewish com-
munity.
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