RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF AMERICA
- RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF AMERICA
- RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF AMERICA (RCA;
Histadrut Harabanim). Founded in 1923 (as the Rabbinical
Council of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations), in 1935 the
RCA merged with the Rabbinical Association of the Rabbi
Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (Yeshiva University) and took its
present name. The goal of the RCA is "to advance the
cause and the voice of Torah and the rabbinic tradition" by "promoting
the welfare, interests, and professionalism of Orthodox rabbis all
around the world"; it is the rabbinic counterpart of the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations. The RCA has offices in New
York and Jerusalem and sponsors various yeshivot and educational
institutions in Israel. In 2005 the RCA claimed an
international membership of over 1,000 members, of whom 600 occupied
pulpits and one hundred were in chaplaincy, the remainder were in
educational or communal positions. Most of its members are graduates of
the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
Since 1960, the RCA has sponsored the independent Beth
Din of America, which, in addition to dealing with questions of personal
status, also addresses issues arising from commercial disputes and keeps
records of prenuptial agreements that are promulgated through the
RCA. In 2005 The Beth Din of America was headed by Rabbi
Gedalia Schwartz and its director was Rabbi Jonathan Reiss. Until his
death in 1993, Rabbi joseph b. soloveitchik was the "guiding
spirit and mentor" of the RCA and chaired its
halakhah commission, which Rabbi Asher Bush was coordinating
in 2005. While eschewing inter-religious activities that include
discussions of theology, the RCA has sent representatives
to the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations
(IJCIC), which is under the auspices of the World Jewish
Congress. The RCA publishes two journals, a quarterly,
Tradition (1958– ) and a halakhic journal in Hebrew,
Hadarom. (1957– ). From 2002 the executive vice president of
the RCA was Rabbi Basil Herring.
-BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Leibman, in: AJYB, 66 (1965), 21–97; Davis, in: L.
Finkelstein, The Jews: Their History, Culture, and Religion,
1 (19603), 559f.; L. Bernstein, Challenge and Mission:
The Emergence of the English Speaking Rabbinate (1982).
(Asher Oser (2nd ed.)
Encyclopedia Judaica.
1971.
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