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Conservative Judaism
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Conservative Judaism, a movement situated at the center of the religious spectrum between Orthodoxy and the various versions of liberal Judaism, was in the news this past winter when its committee on Jewish law ruled on the status of homosexuality. Hot-button issues of this sort have historically proved agonizing for the movement—as they have not for Orthodoxy, which has tended to side almost automatically with traditional religious laws, or for liberal denominations, which have reflexively accommodated themselves to societal change. By contrast, the underlying assumption of Conservative Judaism has been that any dissonance between shifting social mores and long-established religious laws should and can be harmonized.
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The heart of the problem is this: Conservative Judaism has been a spectacular failure at raising a second generation of committed laypeople. The movement has produced brilliant thinkers and scholarship, unparalleled educational programs, and a large number of synagogues. But membership is declining, and that’s because children who grow up in Conservative synagogues rarely care much about Jewish observance — and when they do, they become rabbis, join Orthodox synagogues, or move to Israel.
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Rabbi Mordecai Waxman writes: The founders of Conservative Judaism had no intention of starting a new wing or denomination or party within Judaism. {The leaders of the movement} were all scrupulous in asserting that they represented a tendency and not a party....The Conservative movement has always clung to the position that it is not a denomination in the Jewish fold. It holds that it is Judaism. It is the Jewish tradition continuing along its path in time and space with its characteristic dynamism. It is true that there are other variants of Judaism, Orthodoxy and Reform. But then, there always have been movements to the left and right of normative Judaism.
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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.
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Conservative Judaism maintains the traditional 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 ... rejects patrilineal descent. Conservative Judaism does not allow intermarriage. However, the Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism has a more nuanced understanding of this issue than Orthodoxy. In a press release it has stated that "In the past, intermarriage...was viewed as an act of rebellion, a rejection of Judaism.
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For Conservative Judaism the divinity of Torah is grounded in the consent of the people. The community itself with the passage of time will adjust its commandments to their needs. Major emphasis is directed to history so that the past is a primary guide to inform the future. Acceptance of new knowledge and observance depends upon the will of the people. Zionism is a central precept because of the spiritual and national bonds it signifies for the Jewish people. Aesthetic values too are important for uniting and elevating the community.
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Conservative Judaism