c. 1999 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ In 1994, the Synagogue Council of America _ for 70 years North American Judaism’s only interdenominational rabbinic voice _ collapsed under the weight of internal bickering between the group’s Orthodox and non-Orthodox members.

Since then, the gulf between Judaism’s traditional and more liberal elements has grown even more cantankerous. With rabbis on both sides routinely denouncing each other’s actions, it’s easy to conclude that the common ground that once bound together the Jewish community’s diverse elements has all but disappeared.”The perception in the Jewish community is that the rabbinate has become a dysfunctional family,”said Rabbi Marc Schneier.”We’re here to show that’s not the case.” Schneier is the driving force behind the newly organized North American Boards of Rabbis, which hopes to revive the spirit of cooperation that characterized the SCA’s earlier years. The idea behind NABOR is to bring together on a continental scale those Orthodox and non-Orthodox rabbis who have already displayed a commitment to interdenominational cooperation by being members of local boards of rabbis.

By way of contrast, SCA membership was restricted to selected representatives of six Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbinic and congregational organizations _ not all of them equally committed to interdenominational cooperation.

The local rabbinic boards, of which there about 30 to 40 across the United States and Canada, work together on such issues as local interfaith dialogue and regional Jewish chaplaincy programs, even as they attempt to stay away from the knotty theological questions that divide traditional and liberal Jews worldwide.

While members of North American Judaism’s four streams _ Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative and Orthodox _ are involved in local board activities, Orthodox participation is generally restricted to the movement’s most liberal wing, the so-called modern Orthodox. “We hope to be a model of how rabbis from Judaism’s different branches can put aside their differences to focus on common concerns,”said Schneier, president of the 800-member New York Board of Rabbis, the largest of the local boards.

About 25 U.S. and Canadian local boards sent representatives to NABOR’s second organizing session, which was held Monday (Feb. 22) in Washington. Among the boards represented were Chicago, Indianapolis, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Miami, Detroit, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Fl., Toronto and Denver.

At the meeting, the group moved to open an office in New York and held its first election of officers.

Schneier, who is Orthodox, was elected NABOR’s president, and Reform Rabbi Ronald Brown of Merrick, N.Y., was elected vice president. Reform Rabbi Stanley Davids of Atlanta and Conservative Rabbi Lionel Moses of Montreal, Canada, were picked to share secretarial duties. Reform Rabbi Daniel Schwartz of Detroit was elected treasurer.

NABOR officials said that Jewish communities in Germany, the Czech Republic and Brazil have already asked for assistance in establishing similar rabbinic bodies in those nations. They also said $200,000 has been secured from major Jewish philanthropists to fund NABOR’s first two years.

Unlike the SCA, NABOR does not intend to present itself as North America’s rabbinic representative in discussions with the Vatican and other international religious bodies. However, NABOR will seek to involve itself in national dialogues with groups such as the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Council of Churches, said Davids.”Local rabbis often have very good personal relationships with members of other faiths, but we lack a structured forum for rabbis that would allow us to meet with our non-Jewish counterparts,”Davids said.

However, creating a single rabbinic entity for interfaith efforts does not sit well with all local boards of rabbis _ including the influential Board of Rabbis of Southern California, which claims some 250 Los Angeles-area rabbis.

Los Angeles, the nation’s second largest Jewish community after New York, was not represented at this week’s NABOR meeting.

Conservative Rabbi Bradley Artson, the Los Angeles group’s executive vice president, said his board supports NABOR’s goal of healing divisions within the Jewish community. But he expressed concern that NABOR will be perceived as talking for the entire Jewish community.

Artson noted that Judaism’s various streams have their own rabbinic organizations that speak for their denomination. NABOR, he said,”creates an artificial conformity that is distinct from what I would call real unity.” Schneier said he hoped the Southern California board will ease its opposition in the near future.

In recent years, the ongoing battles in Israel between Orthodox and non-Orthodox religious and political leaders has become a virtual minefield for American Jewish groups. While American groups associated with a particular denomination have joined the fray _ which revolves around the non-Orthodox trying to end Orthodox religious hegemony in Israel _ most lay-led Jewish organizations have resisted taking sides.

Brown said NABOR also would seek to stay neutral in Judaism’s internal theological struggle.”Our focus will be on North America and on the grassroots issues that unite us as Jews rather than those that divide us,”he said.”If we stray from that focus, we’ll be in trouble and just go the way of the SCA.”

DEA END RIFKIN