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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, July 9, 1971
EUROPEAN NEWSLETTER
Disestablishment Fails
By S. J. Goldsmith
The mini Kulturkampf among
British J ews has spilled over
into the Board of Deputies, their
representative body which is
211 years old (no anniversary,
but still a date to mark).
It is all because of Clause 43,
which will go down in history
with Clause 4 of the Labor Par
ty, as something unnecessary
and out of date, and yet sacred
like one of those white cows of
Benares. Let me explain.
Clause 43 of the Constitution
of the Board of Deputies says
that in all religious matters, the
Board consults with the spiritual
leaders of the United Synagogue
and the Sephardi Community—
two Orthodox bodies. When I
say Orthodox bodies I mean, of
course, that their rabbis and
ministers are Orthodox and
their services conform to the
Orthodox pattern (not that my
grandfather would have ap
proved of those services, what
with the omission of huge
chunks from the prayers for the
High Holidays and the choir up
there behind the Ark). The
members of these two groups
are no more and no less observ
ant by and large, than the mem
bers of the Liberal and Reform
trends, known collectively as the
Progressives. The flesh is weak
everywhere . . . The truly pious
individuals — again, excepting
the rabbis—find their own way
SAVANNA FT
NEWS
Dr. Abe Kamine has been
elected president of the Geor
gia Veterinary Medical Assn.
He has practiced veterinary
medicine in Savannah for 21
years and holds a pharmacy de
gree from Rutgers University
and a veterinary medical degree
from Ohio State University.
Benny Eichholtz, a junior at
Tyjane, has been named to the
dean’s list He is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Harry Eichholz and is
a political science major.
Irving Jay Seem an, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Seeman,
has been named to Phi Beta
Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi hon
orary societies. He was grad
uated cum laude recently from
the University of Georgia in the
top 10 per cent of the
and will enter Medical College
of Georgia in September.
Karen R. Rosen, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Emanuel Rosen,
was graduated on May 30 from
Emerson College.
Betty Garfunkle received a
BA degree June 10 from
Yeshiva University’s Stern Col
lege for Women. She is the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ben
jamin Garfunkel.
Mrs. Beth Oppenheim Cohen,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis ,
Oppenheim, was gradu a t e d
summa cum laude from the
University of Georgia and in
vited into Phi Kappa Phi hon
orary scholastic society. Her
husband Michael is a law stu
dent at the university.
his BS degree from the Univer
sity of Georgia and was initiated
into Phi Beta Kappa.
Allen Harvey Wall, son of
Dr. and Mrs. Herbert Wall, was
graduated from the Southern
College of Pharmacy of Mercer
University on June 6. He previ
ously attended Armstrong State
College and the University of
Georgia.
Among those named to the
dean’s list at the University of
Georgia for the spring quarter
was Gary Udinsky, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Burton Udinsky.
Miss Rochelle Stein, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Stein,
was named to the yearly dean’s
list at the University of Miami
in Coral Gables. She is major
ing in music education.
Augusta
News
The Misses Frances, Pauline
and Gladys Moog attended grad
uation ceremonies of their
nephew, Kenneth Kaufman, son
of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Kauf
man, from Briarcliff High
School on June 7.
Mr. and Mrs. Max Berry of
Columbia, S.C. were recent vis
itors of the Moog sisters in Au
gusta.
Mrs. A1 Berger has returned
'home after attending graduation
in Boston of her nephew, the
son of Mrs. Isadore (Rae) Daitch,
formerly of Augusta.
Friends of Nathan Moog will
be happy to learn he is at home
after a recent heart attack.
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to God. There are several Unat
tached houses of prayer, and
there is Lubavitch, and we also
have some non-political Mizra-
chi and Agudah adherents, who
are truly religious in an old-
fashioned way.
Still, the United Synagogue
and the Sephardi Community
are Orthodox. Which means that
the Board is guided exclusively
by Orthodox spiritual leaders,
although the other trends are
now well established as an inte
gral part of British Jewry. They
demand their rights, as it were.
They say they are also well sup
plied with spiritual leaders quite
capable of advising the Board
which, incidentally, very seldom
needs advice on religious mat
ters . . .
At the last meeting of the
Board, this issue came to a head.
Strangely enough, two Ortho
dox members, both known for
their meticulous observance,
moved changes in Clause 43 of
the Constitutions. They are
both barristers of standing—
Fred Landau and F. Ashe Lin
coln —and they put their cases
well. But in such debates, there
is little room for reason and
logic. The movers and their
supporters did not argue that
the Board should give an opin
ion about the validity of various
trends within Jewry, or state
whether the 20 percent Progres
sive Jews in the British Isles
are, or are not, likely to partici
pate in the Hereafter. All the
Board was asked to say was that
Clause 43 is no longer valid in
the light of modem conditions
and moods. In other words, the
obligation to consult Orthodox
leaders exclusively on religious
matters should be modified. To
this a majority refused to agree.
By 110 to 66 votes the motion
was defeated, and the Board
remains saddled with Clause 43
in its original form. But this is
not the end of the affair, to bor
row Graham Green’s phrase.
The Progressives have indicated
that they might leave the Board.
On this they will decide at
their conference this summer.
It is not an easy decision for
them. It would mean contracting
out of the representative body of
British Jews. Private talks at
various levels will no doubt con
tinue—and time will show.
It should be pointed out that
another Orthodox Jew—S.S. Le
vin—had suggested some time
ago to do away with Clause 43
altogether. In other words, to
have no “established church” in
Anglo-Jewry. However, he
changed his mind and joined the
amenders, to the chagrin of
many who want religion out of
politics.
A serious split in the Board
is unlikely. British Jews are
very proud of their Board. They
never tire of pointing out that
American Jews and French
Jews have no representative
bodies, only makeshift arrange
ments. Indeed, American Jewish
leaders have on numerous occa
sions publicly expressed their
envy of British Jews who have
the Board of Deputies to speak
for them on all vital issues,
though they failed to specify
whether they envy the idea or
our' Board as it is and as it
works One fancies it was" the
former . . .
For, age adds veneration but
makes the joints stiffer. This
maxim applies to public bodies
as well as anatomical units . . .
Dr. Michael Ramsay, the
Archbishop of Canterbury (Pri
mate of the Church of Ekigland),
who is not only a great leader
of his Ohurch but also a famous
philosopher and a tolerant hu
manist, said the other day in a
radio interview:
“If I woke up and found the
Church of England had been
disestablished I would have
been glad." This is what he
said — glad!
An established church does
not make for more religiousity,
or for higher ethics. The
Church of England has learned
this truth over the centuries
The mood today is such that,
theoretically, England could
have a Roman Catholic as
Queen or King, an agnostic or a
heretic. But only theoretically.
And so it is with British Jews.
Theoretically they could have a
Progressive Jew as president of
the Board of Deputies. For all
we know they might have had
one or two ih the past but no
one noticed it. But in practice
it is different.
One presumes that Clause 43
will be removed from the
Board’s Constitution when the
Church of England is disestab
lished. And this will not happen
in the near future.
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