approach. In the same rabbinical convention it was suggested that the resolution of Braunschweig , which stated that marriage between Jews and non-Jews was not prohibited, be accepted but no action was taken on that motion.
The Synod of Augsburg in 1871 again dealt with the status of a child, born of a Jewish mother, who had not been circumcised. For the first time the subject of conversion for the sake of marriage was discussed in light of the Talmudic law which prohibited such a conversion. The meeting decided that those who converted from Christianity were not subject to any Talmudic stricture, as Christians were monotheists not idolators.® The broader consequences of this decision were not debated.
American Rabbinic Conference
The meeting of Philadelphia held in 1869 was the first major rabbinic conference held in the United States , dealt with the status of an uncircumcised child of a Jewish mother, and declared the child to be Jewish in every respect’. The Reform leader , David Einhorn , put it in the following way:"Circumcision belongs, indeed, to the most important Jewish obligations, but the uncircumcised of Jewish origin was as much a member of the Jewish community as anyone who elects to practice any other commandment whose omission involves the punishment of expulsion." This statement dealt with all Jews , not converts alone, and we should remember that there was a movement among the more radical reformers in Germany to eliminate circumcision.’
this question of circumcision for converts needed further investigation and appointed a committee of five to deal with it in an appropriate fashion. No resolution was passed at that conference although those in attendance seemed inclined toward not requiring It.
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