Word: rackman
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Many Jewish leaders deplore the trend. Dr. Emanuel Rackman, former head of Manhattan's Orthodox Jewish divorce court, the Beth Din, urges rabbis not to perform mixed marriages, as some Reform rabbis do. (Conservative and Orthodox rabbis insist upon the conversion of the non-Jewish partner, a tactic that often drives couples to a municipal judge or a broad-minded Protestant minister.) At the golden jubilee convention of the Farband-Labor Zionist Order last month, its leaders warned against the new spirit of assimilation in U.S. Jewry, which they said was reflected "in the alarming growth of intermarriages...
...Orthodox Jew," explains Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, 51, president of Beth Din, "a Get is a must. You can never tell when you're going to fall in love with an Orthodox Jew, and when that happens a civil divorce is not enough. You must also have a religious divorce." Rabbis can grant divorces, but this has led to abuses-for example, Gittin from improperly ordained rabbis turned out to be invalid...
...psychological, sexual and economic difficulties as well. The court does what it can to shore up sagging marriages before agreeing to grant a Get-and does remarkably well. Of the 500 problem marriages handled by Beth Din in its first year, all but 5% were saved. Says Rabbi Rackman: "We have made some contribution to domestic tranquillity...