Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
1. We endorse the work of the Committee for Intercultural Education and the
Springfield
Plan for breaking down racial barriers in the community by teaching children
throughout
the school system to recognize and value the contributions of the various
minorities in American life. (1944, p. 97)
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
Our religious school students are being exposed increasingly to new and
stimulating
media and to a variety of innovative materials in general education. While we
were
once in the vanguard with the production of audiovisual materials and other
types
of educational software, we are now lagging seriously behind in terms of the
new orientations
and expectations of our students.
Because it is essential and urgent that we meet these rapidly growing needs,
the Commission
on Jewish Education urges the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the
Union
of American Hebrew Congregations to endorse the establishment of, and urge
prompt
allocation of the necessary funds for, a Department of Experimental Education
with
a full-time director within the Department of Jewish Education to carry out
the following
functions:
before actual
publication.
their own
in new and creative programs without proper direction and guidance,
specifically:
a. Orienting teachers.
b. Stimulating teachers through workshops to produce useful materials.
c. Visiting and observing classes to guide teachers.
d. Testing.
syllabi and
audio-visual materials.
latter being
the function of the Curriculum Committee.
publications.
and self-surveys.
to serve
the Commission in consultative capacities.
to suggest
applications to the Reform Movement.
circulating successful
projects through the UAHC Creative Education Series.
recommendations
on the basis of evaluated experiments.
following:
a. Simulation games
b. Video tapes
c. Film loops
d. Films and slides
e. Telelectures
f. Educasting
commercial firms.
Education,
and Adult Education in meeting their respective needs for experimentation.
(1969,
pp. 145-46)
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
It is impossible for the national staff members of the UAHC Department of
Education
to serve and to maintain close personal communication with all the
congregations
of the Reform Movement, although the need for such service is indispensable
and urgent.
The Commission on Jewish Education therefore urges the appointment of regional
directors
of education, in addition to regional consultants connected with local
Bureaus of
Education, to carry out the following functions:
school years.
principals.
Commission on Jewish
Education.
administrators.
local Bureaus
of Education.
functions and to
discuss their specific as well as general problems and needs. (1969, p.
145)
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
1. We are impatient with an economic order that seems periodically destined to
bring
the misery of unemployment; within the potentialities of our American
democratic
system there lies the power of the masses of
the people, when properly apprised of the facts, to change these conditions by
orderly
procedure. We heartily endorse such changes as would bring about a curbing of
the
greed which the present profit system makes inevitable. (1932, p. 97)
2. We advocate the formation of an Economic Council brought about by
government initiative
and composed of representatives of industry, agriculture, labor, the
professions
and the government, so that the benefits of individual enterprise may be best
preserved with due regard for the economic security of the masses. (1939, p.
158)
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
1. The Central Conference of American Rabbis applauds the moral integrity and
heroism
of Dr. Benjamin Spock, the Reverend William Sloane Coffin, Jr., and their
co-defendants
in their confrontation with our government on the issues of the Selective
Service
Law and the war in Vietnam. We express our solidarity with these distinguished
Americans,
who placed their conscience above considerations of personal safety, and whom
we
regard as an honor to our nation. (1968, p. 136)
2. See Vietnam War, Resistance to.
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
The CCAR looks with favor upon the efforts of many state legislatures to
revise and
improve their statutes concerning divorce.
In view of the millennial Jewish experience in family law, and in the part of
our
tradition that deals with divorce, we strongly oppose all adversary
procedures, acts
of collusion, and the primary concern with the financial settlement.
Out of deep reverence for the individual and because of our knowledge of
Jewish family
values we would vigorously emphasize:
most helpful
way possible.
We urge a thorough revision of state divorce laws to make them more rational,
just,
and humane under all circumstances. (1967, p. 103)
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
1. Acting out of commitment to the prophetic ideals of justice and peace, and
acknowledging
the duty of the individual to act in accordance with the highest ideals of
morality,
we hereby express our support of those who conscientiously dissent from the
policy of our government in Vietnam and who refuse to cooperate with that
policy.
We further resolve that we set up draft-counseling services in our synagogues
in cooperation
with peace groups such as the Jewish Peace Fellowship. (1968, p. 128)
2. See Conscientious Objection.
3. See Vietnam War.
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
1. There is no evidence that the intensity of discrimination directed against
Jews
and other religions and ethnic groups in the Soviet Union and its satellites
has
abated. Jewish life is still attacked and its few remaining manifestations
religiously
and culturally are ruthlessly curtailed. Ludicrous charges are still being
flung by Soviet
spokesmen in the United Nations and in the Communist press against Jewish
organizations
and their representatives who have sought only to bring a measure of relief to
our brethren behind the Iron Curtain. The CCAR calls upon the leadership of
all freedom-loving
people to help seek an end to the communist denial of religious and cultural
freedom
of religious and ethnic groups and the communist repudiation of the human
rights of individuals. (1953. p. 123)
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
1. See Rabbi, (Freedom of), Sec. 2 (1946).
2. See Social Betterment, Sec. 3 (1951).
3. We welcome the resolution on Freedom of the Pulpit passed at the recent
Biennial
of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. This resolution said, in part:
"Rabbis
have the right to interpret the words of Scripture in the light of
contemporary problems and the exercise of this right must be zealously guarded
Congregations have the
right to disagree with the utterances made from the pulpit and to express
their dissent
in Congregational meetings, Temple gatherings and membership meetings. We
would urge
rabbis and laymen alike to cherish this precious freedom, and to ensure that
no restraints
are placed upon it, while at the same time recognizing that it imposes an
obligation
to respect the rights and opinions of those who disagree." (1953 p.
125)
4. See Rabbi. Freedom of Sec. 6 (1953)
Central Conference of American Rabbis
between 1889 and 1974
1. The Central Conference of American Rabbis is shocked and dismayed by the
irregular
conversion and kidnapping of the Finaly children, despite the clearly
expressed wishes
of their parents, murdered by the Nazis, that these children be reared as
Jews. This defiance of the French courts and their processes of justice and of
the moral law
of mankind, in large abetted by the Spanish government as well as by
functionaries
of the Roman Catholic Church, has shocked the conscience of mankind. We urge
the
CCAR, in cooperation with all interested groups, to appeal directly to the
Vatican and its
supreme spiritual authority, Pope Pius XII, to the end that these children be
returned
immediately to the legal and moral custody of their relatives. (1953, p.
122)