Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a modern denomination of Judaism that arose in United States in the early 1900's. Conservative Judaism is characterized by:

• A commitment to following traditional Jewish laws and customs
• A deliberately non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith.
• A positive attitude toward modern culture
• An acceptance of both traditional rabbinic modes of study and modern scholarship and critical text study when considering Jewish religious texts.

Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism, developed in 1850s Germany as a reaction to the more liberal religious positions taken by Reform Judaism. The term conservative was meant to signify that Jews should attempt to conserve Jewish tradition, rather than reform or abandon it, and does not imply the movement's adherents are politically conservative. Because of this potential for confusion, a number of Conservative rabbis have proposed renaming the movement, and outside of the United States of America it is known as Masorti Judaism (Hebrew for "Traditional").

History

Like Reform Judaism, the Conservative movement developed in Europe and the United States in the 1800s, as Jews reacted to the changes brought about by the Enlightenment and Jewish emancipation. In Europe the movement was known as Positive-Historical Judaism, and it is still known as "the historical school."

Positive-Historical Judaism, the intellectual forerunner to Conservative Judaism, was developed as a school of thought in the 1840s and 1850s in Germany. Its principal founder was Rabbi Zecharias Frankel, who had broken with the German Reform Judaism in 1845 over its rejection of the primacy of the Hebrew language in Jewish prayer. In 1854, Frankel became the head of the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau, Germany. At the seminary, Frankel taught that Jewish law was not static, but rather has always developed in response to changing conditions. He called his approach towards Judaism "Positive-Historical," which meant that one should have a positive attitude towards accepting Jewish law and tradition as normative, yet one should be open to developing the law in the same fashion that it has always historically developed. Frankel rejected the innovations of Reform Judaism as insufficiently based in Jewish history and communal practice. However, Frankel's use of modern methods of historical scholarship in analyzing Jewish texts and developing Jewish law set him apart from neo-Orthodox Judaism, which was concurrently developing under the leadership of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.

In the latter half of the 19th century, the debates occurring in German Judaism were replicated in America. Conservative Judaism in America similarly began as a reaction to Reform Judaism's rejection of traditional Jewish law and practice. The differences between the more modern and traditional branches of American Judaism came to a head in 1883, at the "Trefa Banquet" - where shellfish and other non-kosher dishes were served at the celebration of the first graduating class of Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. The adoption of the radical Pittsburgh Platform in 1885, which dismissed observance of the ritual commandments and Jewish peoplehood as "anachronistic" created a permanent wedge between the Reform movement and more traditional American Jews.

In 1886, Rabbis Sabato Morais and H. Pereira Mendes founded the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York City as a more traditional alternative to HUC. The Seminary's brief affiliation with the traditional congregations that established the Orthodox Congregation Union of America in 1898 was severed due to the Orthodox rejection of the Seminary's academic approach to Jewish learning. At the turn of the century, the Seminary lacked a source of permanent funding and was ordaining on average no more than one rabbi per year.

The fortunes of Conservative Judaism underwent a dramatic turnaround when in 1902, the famed scholar Solomon Schechter accepted the invitation to become president of JTS. Under Schechter's leadership, JTS attracted a distinguished faculty and became a highly regarded center of Jewish learning. In 1913, the Conservative Movement founded its congregational arm, the United Synagogue of America.

Conservative Judaism enjoyed rapid growth in the first half of the 20th Century, becoming the largest American Jewish denomination. Its combination of modern innovation (such as mixed gender seating) and traditional practice particularly appealed to first and second-generation Eastern European Jewish immigrants, who found Orthodoxy too restrictive, but Reform Judaism foreign. After World War II, Conservative Judaism continued to thrive. The 1950s and early 1960s featured a boom in synagogue construction as upwardly-mobile American Jews moved to the suburbs. Conservative Judaism occupied an enviable middle position during a period where American society prized consensus.

The Conservative coalition splintered in 1963, when advocates of the Reconstructionist philosophy of Mordecai Kaplan seceded from the movement to form a distinct Reconstructionist Judaism. Kaplan had been a leading figure at JTS for 54 years, and had pressed for liturgical reform and innovations in ritual practice from inside of the framework of Conservative Judaism. Frustrated by the perceived dominance of the more traditionalist voices at JTS, Kaplan's followers decided that the ideas of Reconstructionism would be better served through the creation of separate denomination. In 1968, the split became formalized with the establishment of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Conservative Judaism was divided over issues of gender equality. In 1973, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards passed a responsa permitting women to count in a minyan, but left the decision on whether to be egalitarian to individual congregations. After a further decade of debate, in 1983, JTS voted to admit women for ordination as Conservative rabbis. Certain opponents of this decision left the Conservative movement to form the Union for Traditional Judaism.

In the 1990s, the University of Judaism in Los Angeles established the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies as an independent rabbinical school. At the time of the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey, Conservative Judaism remained the largest denomination in America, with 43 percent of Jewish households affiliated with a synagogue belonging to Conservative synagogues (compared to 35 percent for Reform and 16 percent for Orthodox). 10 years later, the NJPS showed that the Conservative movement had suffered serious attrition, with only 33 percent of synagogue-affiliated American Jews belonging to Conservative synagogue. For the first time in nearly a century, Conservative Judaism is no longer the largest denomination in America. At the same time, however, certain Conservative institutions, particular day schools, have shown significant growth. Conservative leaders agree that these contrasting trends indicate that the movement has reached a crossroads as it heads into the 21st century.

Beliefs

For much of the movement's history, Conservative Judaism avoided publishing systematic explications of the Jewish principles of faith. This was a conscious attempt to hold together a wide coalition. This concern largely became a non-issue after the left-wing of the movement seceded in 1968 to form the Reconstructionist movement, and after the right-wing seceded in 1985 to form the Union for Traditional Judaism.

In 1988, the leadership council of Conservative Judaism finally issued an official statement of belief, Emet Ve-Emunah: Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism. In accord with classical rabbinic Judaism, it agrees that Jews must hold certain beliefs. However, it holds that the Jewish community never developed any one binding catechism. Thus, it is difficult if not impossible to pick out only one person's formal creed and hold it as binding. Instead, Emet Ve-Emunah allows for a range of Jewish beliefs that Conservative rabbis believe are authentically Jewish and justifiable.

Thus, Emet Ve-Emunah affirms belief in God and in the divine inspiration of the Torah; however it also affirms the legitimacy of multiple interpretations of these issues. Atheism, Trinitarian views of God, and polytheism are all ruled out. Conservative Judaism explicitly rejects relativism, yet also rejects literalism and fundamentalism.

God

Conservative Judaism affirms monotheism. Its members have varied beliefs about the nature of God, and no one understanding of God is mandated. Among the beliefs affirmed are: Maimonidean rationalism; Kabbalistic mysticism; Hasidic panentheism (neo-Hasidism, Jewish Renewal); limited theism (as in Harold Kushner's "When Bad Things Happen to Good People"); organic thinking in the fashion of Whitehead and Hartshorne, a.k.a. process theology (such as Rabbis Max Kaddushin and William E. Kaufman).

Mordecai Kaplan's religious naturalism (Reconstructionist Judaism) used to have an influential place in the movement, but since Reconstructionism developed as an independent movement, this influence has waned. Papers from a recent Rabbinical Assembly conference on theology were recently printed in a special issue of the journal Conservative Judaism (Winter 1999); the editors note that Kaplan's naturalism seems to have dropped from the movement's radar screen.

Revelation

In agreement with traditional Judaism, Conservative Judaism holds that God inspired prophets to write the Torah (five books of Moses) and the Hebrew Bible. However, for theological reasons most Conservative Jews reject the traditional Jewish idea that God dictated the words of the Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai in a verbal revelation. Divine revelation, however, while held to be real, is generally believed to be non-verbal -- that is, the revelation did not include the particular words of the divine texts. Conservative Judaism allows its adherents to hold to a wide array of views on the subject of revelation.

Conservative Jews are comfortable with the findings of higher criticism, including the documentary hypothesis, the idea that the current text of the Torah was redacted together from several earlier sources. They go further, and the movement's rabbinic authorities and official Torah commentary (Etz Hayim: A Torah Commentary) affirm that Jews should make use of modern critical literary and historical analysis to understand how the Bible developed.

Conservative Jews reconcile these beliefs by holding that God, in some way, did reveal his will to Moses and later prophets. However, records of revelation may have been passed down through the centuries in many ways, including written documents, folklores, epic poems, etc. These records were eventually redacted together to form the Torah, and later on, the other books of the Tanakh [Hebrew Bible].

Jewish law

Conservative Judaism views Jewish law as normative and binding. However, it takes the position that halakha can and should evolve to meet the changing reality of Jewish life. Conservative Judaism, therefore, views that traditional Jewish legal codes must be viewed through the lens of academic criticism. As Solomon Schechter noted, "however great the literary value of a code may be, it does not invest it with infallibility, nor does it exempt it from the student or the Rabbi who makes use of it from the duty of examining each paragraph on its own merits, and subjecting it to the same rules of interpretation that were always applied to Tradition". Conservative Judaism believes that its view of Jewish law as evolving and adaptable is indeed consistent with Jewish tradition.(See also, the various positions within contemporary Judaism as regards Halakha and the Talmud.)

Conservative Judaism holds that both the ethical and ritual requirements are normative. Conservative Jews therefore are obligated to observe ritual laws including the laws of Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath); the laws of kashrut (keeping kosher); the practice of praying three times a day; observance of the Jewish holidays and life-cycle events.

A number of studies have shown that there is a large gap between what the Conservative movement teaches and what most of its laypeople have incorporated into their daily lives. In practice, the majority of Jews affiliated with Conservative synagogues do not observe the Conservative interpretation of halakha. Conservative Jewish practice is frequently indistinguishable from that of Reform Jews with respect to observance of the laws of Shabbat or kashrut. Moderately affiliated Conservative Jews however, are more likely to follow Conservative doctrine in life-cycle or holiday observances (such as attending synagogue for two days on Rosh Hashanah or keeping the laws of Passover). There is a substantial committed core of Conservative Jews, consisting of the lay leadership, rabbis, cantors, educators, and those who have graduated from the movement's religious day schools and summer camps, that do take Jewish law very seriously. Recent studies have shown an increase in the observance of members of the movement.

There is a separate article which has details on Conservative responsa, the legal opinions and rulings of Conservative and Masorti Judaism. Conservative responsa are written by the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards.

Views of other Jewish denominations

Conservative Judaism contrasts itself with other denominations through two major areas of distinction:

• Concerning the degree of revelation of Torah: here, Conservative Judaism holds that the Orthodox belief in a verbal revelation of written and oral Torah is not necessary or mandated by Jewish belief. However, they also reject the Reform view of Torah being only divine inspiration. Rather they accept the belief in the divinity and non-verbal revelation of written Torah as the authentic, historically correct Jewish view. In this view, Oral Torah is considered inspired by Torah, but not necessarily of divine origin.

• Concerning interpretation of Halakha(or jewish law): because of Judaism's legal tradition, the fundamental differences between modern Jewish denominations also involve the interpretation and application of Jewish law Jewish law and tradition. Conservative Judaism believes that its approach is the most authentic expression of Judaism as it was traditionally practiced. Conservative Jews believe that movements to its left, such as Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, have erred by rejecting the traditional authority of Jewish law and tradition. They believe that the Orthodox Jewish movements, on the theological right, have erred by slowing down, or stopping, the historical development of Jewish law: "Conservative Judaism believes that scholarly study of Jewish texts indicates that Judaism has constantly been evolving to meet the needs of the Jewish people in varying circumstances, and that a central halakhic authority can continue the halakhic evolution today." (Soc.Culture.Jewish Usenet Newsgroup FAQ) The Conservative movement makes a conscious effort to use historical sources to determine what kind of changes to Jewish tradition have occurred, how and why they occurred, and in what historical context. With this information they believe that can better understand the proper way for rabbis to interpret and apply Jewish law to our conditions today. See also under Modern Orthodox Judaism.

Mordecai Waxman, a leading figure in the Rabbinical Assembly, writes that "Reform has asserted the right of interpretation but it rejected the authority of legal tradition. Orthodoxy has clung fast to the principle of authority, but has in our own and recent generations rejected the right to any but minor interpretations. The Conservative view is that both are necessary for a living Judaism. Accordingly, Conservative Judaism holds itself bound by the Jewish legal tradition, but asserts the right of its rabbinical body, acting as a whole, to interpret and to apply Jewish law." (Mordecai Waxman Tradition and Change: The Development of Conservative Judaism)

One of the leaders of the Conservative Movement has described the legal approaches of the movements by comparing halakha to a game of chess. In the 16th and 17th century (correlating to the publication of the Shulkhan Arukh and its commentaries), the Orthodox put a glass dome over the board. Conservative Jews merely took the dome off the board to begin moving the pieces once again according to the rules. Reform Judaism rejects the rules of the game (and is perhaps playing checkers).

Conservative Judaism views the process by which Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism make changes to Jewish tradition as invalid. Thus, Conservative Judaism rejects patrilineal descent and would hold that a child of a non-Jewish mother who was raised as a Reform or Reconstructionist Jew is not legally Jewish and would have to undergo conversion to become a Jew. Similarly, while Reform and Reconstructionist services or other rituals are not inherently invalid, if they do not meet the requirements of halakha (e.g. a service that omitted a legally required prayer) they would not be recognized as legally significant. Despite the Conservative movement's disagreement with the more liberal movements, it is committed to Jewish pluralism and respects the right of Reform and Reconstructionist Jews to practice Judaism in their own way. Thus the Conservative movement recognizes their clergy as rabbis, even if it often does not accept their specific decisions as valid.

In contrast, while Conservative Judaism views the Orthodox approach to halakha as rigid and overly deferential to past precedent, they also view it as legally valid. Thus, a Conservative Jew could satisfy their halakhic obligations by participation in Orthodox rituals. Orthodox Judaism, however, views the Conservative approach to halakha as invalid. In particular, they criticize the Conservative position that Halakhic precedent is not binding and the use of minority positions in rabbinic literature as support for Conservative rulings. A deeper criticism is that the Conservative process is driven more by a desire to reach outcomes preffered by the movement's laity rather than by traditional Halakhic considerations. As a result, Orthodox Judaism does not recognize Conservative rituals, and some elements of Orthodox Judaism do not recognize Conservative rabbis as authentic rabbis.

Movement organization

In the more limited sense of the term, Conservative Judaism is a unified movement; the international body of Conservative rabbis is the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the organization of synagogues is the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), and the primary seminaries are the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) in New York City and the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles. Conservative Judaism outside the USA is often called Masorti Judaism; Masorti rabbis belong to the Rabbinical Assembly.

Other seminaries include the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, California; the Marshall Meyer Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano in Argentina; and Machon Schechter (in Jerusalem.)

Many Jews both inside and outside of this formal Conservative movement identify Conservative Judaism as a worldview which is significantly larger than tha USCJ and RA. Sociologically and religiously, there is social and religious overlap between the USCJ, the Union for Traditional Judaism, much of the Chavurah movement, and the growing number of congregations which are not affiliated, but which identify themselves as "Traditional-Egalitarian". Rabbis trained at JTS and the Ziegler School often serve these synagogues and chavurot, and members of these synagogues and chavurot often pray at, or are members of, USCJ synagogues.

Jewish identity

Conservative Judaism maintains the Rabbinic understanding of Jewish identity: A Jew is someone who was born to a Jewish mother, or who converts to Judaism in accordance with Jewish law and tradition. Conservatism thus rejects patrilineal descent, which is accepted by the Reform movement. Conservative Rabbis are not allowed to perform intermarriages (marriages between Jews and non-Jews). However, the Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism has a different sociological approach to this issue than does Orthodoxy, although agreeing religiously. In a press release it has stated:

"In the past, intermarriage...was viewed as an act of rebellion, a rejection of Judaism. Jews who intermarried were essentially excommunicated. But now, intermarriage is often the result of living in an open society....If our children end up marrying non-Jews, we should not reject them. We should continue to give our love and by that retain a measure of influence in their lives, Jewishly and otherwise. Life consists of constant growth and our adult children may yet reach a stage when Judaism has new meaning for them. However, the marriage between a Jew and non-Jew is not a celebration for the Jewish community. We therefore reach out to the couple with the hope that the non-Jewish partner will move closer to Judaism and ultimately choose to convert. Since we know that over 70 percent of children of intermarried couples are not being raised as Jews...we want to encourage the Jewish partner to maintain his/her Jewish identity, and raise their children as Jews."

Important figures

• Elliot N. Dorff Professor of philosophy at the Univ. of Judaism professor, theologian, member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
• Bradley Shavit Artson Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism, author, theologian, and public speaker
• Louis Finkelstein Talmud scholar
• Zecharias Frankel - founder of positive-historical Judaism.
• Neil Gillman Theologian, JTS Philosophy Professor
• Louis Ginzberg Talmud scholar and halakhic expert, early member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
• Robert Gordis Rabbi, Theologian, Educator
• Judith Hauptman JTS Talmud scholar
• Jules Harlow - Primary liturgist of the Conservative movement
• Abraham Joshua Heschel Theologian and social activist
• Louis Jacobs - Rabbi, founder of Masorti Judaism in the United Kingdom
• David LieberPresident Emeritus of the University of Judaism, past President of the Rabbinical Assembly, Editor of the Etz Hayim Humash
• Isaac Klein Rabbi, expert in Jewish law, early member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
• Saul Lieberman Talmud scholar at JTS
• Joel Roth JTS Talmud scholar, member of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
• Solomon Schechter - Researcher, early leader of JTS, creator of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
• Mathilde Roth Schechter - Founder of the Women's League of Conservative Judaism and of Hadassah
• Ismar Schorsch - Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
• Gordon Tucker - Former Dean of Jewish Theological Seminary rabbinical school, part-time faculty member at JTS and member of Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel Center in White Plains, NY
• David Wolpe Rabbi -- author, public speaker and rabbi in Los Angeles, California.

External links

• Additional reading
• CJews: Conservative Judaism open discussion forum
• An intro to Conservative Judaism
• The Rabbinical Assembly
• The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
• The Jewish Theological Seminary of America
• University of Judaism
• The Masorti Movement
• A Conservative Jewish view on Intermarriage
• Principles of Masorti Judaism
• The Core Principles of Conservative Judaism
• What is Masorti Judaism?
• Formulating Jewish Law For Our Time
• A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice - Official work on Jewish law
• The role of women in Conservative Judaism
• United Synagogue Youth

References

• Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors To Our Descendants (Revised Edition), Elliot N. Dorff, United Synagogue New York, 1996
• The Conservative Movement in Judaism: Dilemmas and Opportunities, Daniel J. Elazar, Rela Mintz Geffen, SUNY Press, 2000
• Conservative Judaism: The New Century, Neil Gillman, Behrman House 1993
• Halakha For Our Time: A Conservative Approach To Jewish Law, David Golinkin, United Synagogue, 1991
• A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice Isaac Klein, JTS Press, New York, 1992
• Conservative Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook Pamela S. Nadell, Greenwood Press, NY 1988
• Emet Ve-Emunah: Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism, Ed. Robert Gordis, JTS, New York, 1988
• Etz Hayim: A Torah Commentary, Ed. David Lieber, Chaim Potok and Harold Kushner, The Jewish Publication Society, NY, 2001

Traditional-Egalitarian Judaism

• Beyond Dogma, Jerusalem Post Magazine
• Can anyone save Conservative Judaism from itself? The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles

Observance of Conservative Jews

• Conservative Leader Takes Heat for Standards Stance, Forward, March 2002

• Eight Up: The College Years, Survey of Conservative Jewish youth from middle school to college. Ariela Keysar and Barry Kosmin
• Encouraging Trends Among Conservative Synagogue Members, Alan Silverstein, USCJ