A federal judge on June 14 dismissed a defamation suit by a Jewishcongregant against a rabbinical board that urged he be ostracized fornot granting his wife a Jewish divorce.

U.S. District Judge Harold Ackerman found no basis for subject matterjurisdiction, since ruling on the merits of the suit, Klagsbrun v. Va’adHarabonim of Greater Monsey, 97-3134, “would entail judicial intrusioninto ecclesiastical doctrine and practice, which is unquestionablyforbidden ground under the First Amendment.”