Resolution Adopted by the CCAR
Soviet Jewry
Adopted by the CCAR at the 98th Annual Convention of
the Central Conference of American Rabbis
1987
WHEREAS the Central Conference of American Rabbis has long been on record in support
of our oppressed brethren in the U.S.S.R.,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the CCAR express its appreciation for the release of
a limited number of dissidents and refuseniks from the imprisonment and internal
exile in the Soviet Union, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we applaud the many organizations and individuals devoted
to the cause of freedom for the Jews of the Soviet Union and in the Soviet orbit,
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that as members of the CCAR we dedicate ourselves to join in
the unyielding struggle to keep this issue on the agenda of international discussion,
and to the task of achieving freedom for Jews within the Soviet orbit.
Political Alignment
WHEREAS American liberals continue to embrace the idea of religious and political
pluralism, and
WHEREAS many colleagues in the Reform rabbinate have been leaders in the Zionist movement,
and
WHEREAS pluralism is acceptable to many elements in the Israeli political center and
right, and
WHEREAS identification with the Labor alignment in Israel implies acceptance of positions
not held by all Reform Jews, American or Israeli, on the Israeli economy and the
administered territories, and
WHEREAS such affiliation endangers the integrity of the Reform movement,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Central Conference of American Rabbis encourage
Reform institutions to remain politically unaligned.