As we look at the development of Reform Judaism through its pronouncements as various European assemblies and later in America , we see that dina demalkhuta dina was rarely mentioned, however, it was tacitly accepted. So at the Braunschweig Conference of 1844, they declared that“They acted in the sense of the Talmud , making the civil law supreme in all circumstances.” The Conference then dealt with mixed marriage and stated that it would be considered valid only if the ensuing children were“educated in the Jewish faith.” This was followed by a rather vague statement that“Judaism will never yield up the right of independence, within its specific compass and emphatically declines to tolerate all further interference on the part of the state in its inner development and its own religious affairs.”* “Jews must observe those civil laws regarding marriage in the respective states to which they are subject.... The Jew is obligated to regard as his native country the one to which he belongs by birth and through civic conditions. He must defend and obey all its laws.”®!“The Rabbi has no ecclesiastical powers, he has only such rights as the State and the congregation/ invests in him.”62
The meeting in Frankfurt of 1845 declared:“We know but one fatherland, the one in which we live and aim to strike root deeper and deeper.” Breslau in 1846 brought no new resolutions. The Cleveland Conference of 1855 which included all groups of Judaism declared:“Statutes and ordinances contrary to the laws of the land are invalid.”**
The meetings in Leipzig of 1869 stated:“Judaism is in harmony with the principle of the unity of the human race; of the equality of all before the law; of the equality of all in duties and rights to the country and to the State; and with the principle of full liberty of the individual in his religious convictions and in the confession of the same.”® As soon as a court of law had declared a person dead, such declaration holds good and is considered legal in ritual cases. A woman without a get may marry after a year. Civil marriage was fully recognized though the religious ceremony was to be encouraged; it was not considered indispensable. Despite all of these statements, the assembly also passed a resolution which said:“The autonomy, independence and self-government of Judaism in all religious matters must be most sacredly preserved.”® In this much narrowed sphere, they sought to retain some autonomy.