Conference on Church-State Questions

Jewish organizations that have long backed strict church-state separation in court cases are re-evaluating some of their stands, partly in light of the conservative shifts in the U.S. Supreme Court and within American Jewry, according to David Gordis of the University of Judaism.

To examine various Jewish points of view toward aid to religious schools, display of menorahs on public property and other church-state questions, the American Jewish Congress isplanning a conference on Religion and Society in America, from 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday at the University of Judaism campus in Bel-Air.

Theodore Mann, past national president of the American Jewish Congress, will give the initial presentation, with a response from Howard I. Friedman, honorary national president of the American Jewish Committee. Other participants include Carol Sobel, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, Los Angeles Board of Education President Jackie Goldberg and Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin of Stephen S. Wise Temple.