100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

December 02, 1994 - Image 30

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1994-12-02

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

TEMPLE BETH EL

invites you to

WAKE UP TO
JEWISH HUMOR!
SUNDAY MORNING,
DECEMBER 4
10:00 A.M.
HANDLEMAN HALL

Synagogue Council
Is Dissolving

Laugh and Learn About the Rich Diversity of Jewish Humor

MOSHE WALDOKS

presents

A MORNING OF JEWISH HUMOR

Moshe Waldoks is a man of many talents...comic, actor,scholar
and rabbi...Consultant and on -air expert for the PBS/
BBC nationally broadcast documentary The
World of Jewish Humor. Consultant and actor
in the film, The Imported Bridegroom. Author
of THE BIG BOOK OF JEWISH HUMOR
and the brand-new,THE BEST
AMERICAN HUMOR, 1994

TEMPLE BETH EL

7400 Telegraph at 14 Mile Road,
Bloomfield Hills
(810)851-1100

A Chanukah Present to You from the
Al Lindenbaum Memorial Youth Fund of
Temple Beth El.

OPEN
SUNDAYS 12 - 4
UNTIL
CHRISTMAS

Cruisewear Arriving Daily

SHOE GALLERY

30

15 Mile and Orchard Lake Road • West Bloomfield Plaza
851.5470
Mon.-Sat. 10-6

WE BUY
DIAMONDS

LOANS

ON

WEBUY
ESTATES

DIAMONDS

0

U
T

0

F

P

A

w

N

Round
Brilliant

DIAMOND

.70 ct. GIA Cert F VS2
Compare at $5,880

Now

$2,437

LEW S IL VER

wrritecaism
r grwr

4f h Generation Jewelers

GIA Graduate in Diamond
'Grading & Evaluation

A

G
A

N

New York (JTA) — After nearly
70 years as a joint effort of the Or-
thodox, Conservative and Reform
movements, the Synagogue
Council of America has collapsed.
But another organization —
minus the Orthodox and includ-
ing the Reconstructionists — is
quickly forming to take its place.
The Synagogue Council's man-
date since its founding in 1926
has been to serve as a forum for
interdenominational communi-
cation and as a representative of
American Jewry in dialogue with
other faith communities.
The Synagogue Council has
had an ongoing dialogue with the
American Catholic Church's Na-
tional Conference of Catholic
Bishops, and a relationship with
the National Council of Church-
es, which is the umbrella body for
dozens of Protestant and Ortho-
dox denominations.
It has also been one of the part-
ners in, and the secretariat for,
the International Jewish Com-
mittee on Interreligious Consul-
tations, which represents world
Jewry in dealings with the
Catholic church.
For the last two-and-a-half
years, the organization has died
a slow death due to lack of fund-
ing. It is officially dosing its doors
this month.
A new president and executive
vice president were brought in in
October 1993 to try and resusci-
tate the struggling organization,
but to no avail.
"There don't seem to be enough
people who are really interested
in maintaining the organization,"
said Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, an
Orthodox rabbi in Manhattan
who has been the council's pres-
ident for the last year.
"It doesn't have a natural con-
stituency of lay people.
Those of us who are volunteer
leaders have tried very hard, but
we can't keep afloat something
that isn't sustained by the com-
munity," said Rabbi Lookstein.
According to another Syna-
gogue Council official, Rabbi
Fabian Schonfeld, the Synagogue
Council's demise stems from the
fact that so many Jewish groups
are involved in interreligious
work.
"The fact is that interreligious
work has been conducted for
years by the Anti-Defamation
League, the American Jewish
Committee. Even NJCRAC (the
National Jewish Community Re-
lations Advisory Council) is into
the act now," said Rabbi Schon-
feld, co-chair of the Synagogue
Council's interreligious affairs
committee.
"Everyone is doing their own

thing and this is why the Syna-
gogue Council didn't succeed. The
American Jewish community is
not interested in keeping this go-
ing," he said.
The Synagogue Council's six
membership agencies were the
rabbinic and congregational arms
of each of the three largest reli-
gious movements.
Building consensus among
Jews — particularly among rep-
resentatives of three movements
that often take opposing positions
on everything from theological
to political issues — has never
been easy for the Synagogue
Council.
Non-Orthodox members of the
Synagogue Council have blamed
the Orthodox members, who rep-
resent the Rabbinical Council of
America and the Union of Or-
thodox Jewish Congregations of
America, for part of the collapse.

The Synagogue
Council has long
been plagued by
financial troubles.

According to Rabbi Mark Win-
er, the council's second vice pres-
ident and co-chair of its
interreligious affairs committee,
the Orthodox vetoed a suggestion
to move the council's adminis-
trative headquarters temporari-
ly to his offices at a Reform
temple in White Plains, N.Y.,
while more attempts to raise
money were made.
Rabbis Lookstein and Schon-
feld, who is also chairman of the
RCA's delegation to the council,
denied that the Orthodox caused
the agency's final collapse.
In the meantime, however,
Rabbi Winer is involved in an ef-
fort to get a new organization off
the ground which will attempt to
serve the same role played by the
Synagogue Council, with most of
the same players — but with a
significant addition, a likely sig-
nificant loss and a new set of
ground rules.
The new, as-yet unnamed or-
ganization will include the Re-
constructionist movement, said
Rabbi Winer.
It is not likely to include the
Orthodox movement's organiza-
tions, but may include individual
Orthodox rabbis and congrega-
tions, he said.
"In short order we will have a
new organization up and run-
ning," said Rabbi Winer.
"The reason we want to create

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan