Question:
May a chaplain officiate at marriages where one of the parties, previously married, has no "get", and is unable or unwilling to arrange for a "get", and where the alternative is a Christian or civil ceremony?
Answer:
The CANRA is well aware of the fact that it cannot compel all chaplains to follow the practices of Reform, Orthodoxy or of Conservatism. It tries to achieve a balance of opinion and to avoid violating the conscience of any one of the groups.
There are certain compulsory military situations because of which we ask all chaplains to relax certain of their customary religious observances such as in connection with riding on the Sabbath or carrying a burden on the Sabbath. But these matters are such as are directly due to military necessity and are the consequency of direct military command.
However, matters of marriage and divorce are not directly connected with military duty. A soldier may have no choice as to whether to carry a burden on the Sabbath, but he has a choice as to whether he should be married now or after the war. The fact that the proposed marriage takes place at the embarkation point has little to do with the principles involved. In matters of marriage our committee has previously come to a principal which takes account of the various types of chaplains we have and the various types of soldiers. This principle applies here:—
"The decision of the Committee is that while the chaplain should follow as much as possible his own religious practice, he should be careful to ascertain the specific Jewish religious background of the couple to be married and adjust his service in conformity therewith."
This would mean that if it is an Orthodox young man or a man of Orthodox parents who would strongly object to his marrying without a "get" a chaplain should not officiate. If it is a son of Reform parents who are accustomed to the practice of Reform Judaism to accept the civil divorce as sufficient the chaplain should not hesitate to marry the couple, provided the chaplain himself has no objection to marrying a divorced person who has no "get".
The general attitude of the CANRA is therefore expressed in the statement which has already been issued by the CANRA and stated above, namely, "The decision of the Committee is that while the chaplain …… etc."
Dr. Jung adds that the above statement should refer exclusively to the chaplain and under no circumstances to any JWB worker.