93
NEWS
Council Rejects
FRCH Membership
New York (JTA) — The Fed-
eration of Reconstructionist
Congregations and Havurot
(FRCH) last week sharply de-
nminced the Synagogue Council
of America (SCA) following the
Council's decision to deny
membership to Reconstruction-
ism.
Warning that the denial can
harm "Jewish unity," Lillian
Kaplan, president of the FRCH,
charged in a statement issued
here that this rejection "negates
the very essence of its man-
date."
The application of the FRCH
for membership in the SCA was
rejected after the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations
exercised a unilateral veto by
voting against the admission.
The other members of the SCA
— which was funded in 1926 by
the three major synagogue
movements of American Juda-
ism (Reform, Conservative and
Orthodox) and their rabbinical
affiliates — supported the ad-
mission of the Reconstruc-
tionists. The SCA By-Laws in-
clude the rule that a nay vote by
any of its six members can veto
any proposition put before its
board.
The six members of the SCA
are: The Central Conference of
American Rabbis and Union of
American Hebrew Congrega-
tions (Reform), the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations
and the Rabbinical Council of
America (Orthodox), and the
United Synagogue of America
and the Rabbinical Assembly
(Conservative). The FRCH.
claims to be the fourth major
movement in American
Judaism.
Noting that the SCA claims
to be "the umbrella for Jewish
religious life in America,"
Kaplan said that the rejection
"does not weaken our move-
ment, but it does demean the
Council's credentials in terms of
religious leadership."
FRCH excutive director Rab-
bi David Teutsch said that
followin•the veto, his organiza-
tion held discussions with
leaders of the Union of Ortho-
dox Jewish Congregations in an
effort to change their opposition
to the Reconstructionists' mem-
bership in the SCA., but to no
avail. It was after these efforts
failed that the FRCH issued a
statement denouncing the
rejection.
Asked to explain the reasons
for voting against the admission
of the FRCH to' the ,SCA, Rab-
bi Pinellas Stolper, executive
vice president di the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congrega-
tions, said, "In our view there
were and are three major divi-
sions of the American syna-
gogue . commUidty L:the
form, Consentative:and Ortho-
dox. We feel thit . by admitting
additional groulilt
open a
Pandora's boie:iiihiCh' would
needlessly coil*. tiM ialready
confused landicape. Our Opposi-
-
*re
A
QUESTION?
tion to admitting the Recon-
structionists is not directed at
the Reconstructionists per se,
but to the realization that there
are many subgroups of the three
divisions and by tolerating the
creation of further division we
will only render a disservice."
Teutseh said that the FRCH
has about 75,000 members with
over 56 congregations around
the country. The Jewish Recon-
structionist movement was
founded 60 years ago by Rabbi
Mordecai Kaplan. Its guiding
principle is that Judaism is an
evolving religious civilization —
a culture and a way of life as well
as a religious faith.
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Jewish Information Service
OBITUARIES
Dassault Dies
At Age 94
Paris (JTA) — Elaborate
funeral services were held at the
Chapel of St. Louis Des In-
valides last week for Marcel
Bloch-Dassault, France's lead-
ing manufacturer of combat air-
craft for two generations, whose
Mystere and Mirage jets gave
Israel mastery of the air which
spelled victory in the 1956 Sinai
campaign and the Six Day War
in 1967.
Dassault, born Marcel Bloch,
the son of a Jewish physician
and converted to the Roman
Catholic fifth about ten' years
after his liberation from the
Buchenwald concentration
camp, died at the age of 94.
Dasault was re-elected to the
National Assembly last month
and was scheduled to deliver its
opening address. He had been a
Deputy since the end of World
War II and always amassed
huge majorities in his re-election
campaigns.
He was a graduate of France's
school of aeronautical engineer-
ing and achieved fame during
World War I as the inventor of
the most sophisticated combat
and reconnaissance planes of
their time.
P. Silverstein
Philip S. Silverstein, a practic-
ing pharmacist, died April 24 at
age 60.
A native Detroiter, Mr. Sil-
verstein served with the : Army
Medical Corps in the Philippines
from 1949 to 1946. He was a
member of Silverman Post of the
Jewish War Veterans and the
American Legion.
He was graduated from Wayne
State University in 1949 with a
degree in pharmacy. Mr.
Silverstein 'was a member of Rho
Pi Phi pharmaceutical fraternity.
He is survived by his wife,
Muriel; a son, Avery; a daughter,
Mrs. Gary (Karen) Waters; , a
brother, Jim Silverstone; 'a sister,
Mis. Sarah Cooke of Pacifica,
Calif.; and two granddaughters.
rt./
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