There’s a reason why Conservative Judaism became such a powerful movement in the United St. And, in the aftermath of October 7th, it has a chance to make a serious comeback.
Thankyou, Z.E. for a well-written article presented at a critical time! I grew up in 1970s Oakland, California at Conservative "Temple Beth Abraham." My family was actively involved in several aspects of the Jewish Community. In retrospect, I felt very positive with the strength, enthusiasm & cohesion of the Bay Area's Jewish Community, and would readily claim that it was part of a Golden Era for that Jewish Community. Cut to 10/7, and its never-ending fall-out, the deliniations between Reform, Conservative, Recontructionist, and Orthodox movements are significantly more than merely a halachic difference. The differences have taken on a definite political nuance, & in doing so, have become a devisive force, fracturing the Jewish Community. As a young adult (& still today), I admired my Omama's active senior participation in synagogue life. She was at services without fail, every Shabbos. I treasured the feelings of reverance that embraced me when I accompanied her, davening by her side. I remember imagining that one day I, too, would be elderly, & I would regularly attend services. I am now in that general age bracket, and while I have no major excuse for not following in her steps, this significant fracture in Jewish identification & cohesiveness has created a longing for like-minded Jewish Community; A community that understands Jewish obligation toward Eretz Yisrael, & a community that understands that Judaism & the Land of Israel are interwoven and inseparable.
The Conservative Synagogue is a comfortable synagogue. It is not as rigid as an Orthodox shul, but there is more religion and tradition than in a Reform one. But, they are often very expensive to join, many with such elaborate sanctuaries. I was a member of one until it became uncomfortably expensive. The dues were high, but you also had to pledge to a building fund (and there was little compromise on what they wanted from each member.) That was tough on young families and the elderly, who no longer had children in Hebrew school. The board members were mostly wealthy and saw no problem with the money required (of course not). I always thought that the wealthy (who, to be fair, gave generously) could give more. Since those days, I have become rather happy with Chabad (and their more right-wing political attitude), but presently, living an hour or so from the local Chabad, I don't go to shul.
Another reason the Conservative movement has declined is that the younger generations were very poorly educated in their Hebrew Schools. They can barely read Hebrew, follow the service and worst of all never learned Torah. They also didn’t learn about the history of Israel. Services have become rigid and hard to relate to. The Books aren’t great either. Improving the education model and services wouldcertainly help
Thanks for the thought provoking article. Beyond the Masorti rebranding, the central hypothesis seems to be that people are looking for smaller, more homogenous or hyper-local communities and that enabling this shift requires dramatically expanding the rabbinic pipeline by making rabbinical training cheaper, faster, or more flexible.
I don’t doubt the appeal of more focused communities. A big part of why people attend synagogue events is to be around others with whom they share values or life experiences (see here: https://arisussman.substack.com/p/from-insight-to-action-a-case-study. But the key question is what’s lost in the shift: Will congregants be willing to give up the benefits of a scaled institution like religious school, physical space, or diverse programming? And will rabbis accept significantly lower compensation in exchange for leading a community that more closely aligns with their personal vision?
Chabad is a compelling model here, but it’s also powered by deeply mission-driven rabbis who make major sacrifices. Scaling a similar approach in a different context will require a serious reckoning with what trade-offs people are actually willing to make.
I don't know how unique I am, but I consider myself Conservative despite having never actually belonged to a Conservative shul (due to location). We're now at Chabad due to politics at the local non-Orthodox shuls.
To make a more Chabad-style approach work for the Conservative movement, I maybe change rabbinical training to more of an apprenticeship and recruit people as a part-time rather than full-time position. The example I know of was after retirement, I imagine there's other situations that could make it work.
That’s actually an excellent suggestion. There are many rabbinic interns and associate rabbis at big synagogues. Having them take on these roles will give them more autonomy and force them learn more on the job.
Ive left New York so no longer belong. If what you are saying is true then the movement is scarcely different than reform and will soon cease to exist.
A few comments on this excellent article. First, I think the author understates the degree to which the creation of Conservative Judaism, an entirely American invention, was a revulsion to the 19th century Reform movement. It wasn't really Reform's rejection of Jewish people hood. It was Reform's in your face vicious rejection of the entirety of Jewish tradition. People who know the history of Conservative Judaism (Neil Gillman's book is the go to) know about the Traifa Banquet in which leaders of the Reform movement planned a dinner to celebrate the Hebrew Union College and deliberately planned the least kosher meal imaginable. They did that knowing that there would be many guests who kept kosher. This led to the walkout of the leaders who would shortly found the Jewish Theological Seminary and would bring over Rabbi Solomon Schecter to lead it.
The second thing is that what a lot of people dont realize is that the Jewish Theological Seminary has become as left wing as any other campus in America. And when I say left wing I don't mean traditionally left wing. I mean radically left wing. The school is turning out highly politicized activist rabbis who are committed to pushing a radical social agenda and many are breaking with Israel if not entirely then for all practical purposes. It is these students who insist that Halacah bend to support modern social justice causes. These young Rabbis will and in many cases already are running the Rabbinical Assembly. The Rabbinate is not only observant in ways the congregations aren't (Something that has existed for 80 years) but they are much more virulently leftist than most of the Congregations. Not all but certainly a majority of JTS graduates in the 21st century fit this category. I honestly doubt the movement will survive at all. JTS may. But the USCJ won't.
How about returning to reading the full Torah portion? Get rid of the sermon replace with dvar Torah? Don't assume that our most burning cause is gay rights (it isn't), stop being so fancy and get rid of the guitar. Then I might return. In the meantime I live my Chabad.
Really? You are probably an outlier as all the conservative synagogues that I know of in Northern Virginia and my nephew's Brooklyn synagogue they're on a three year cycle making Simchat Torah rather strange. Guard your synagogue.
I still remember speaking with my mother’s cousin in Toronto a few years ago who has since passed away. He was an active member of Beth Tikvah including past president, and was bemoaning the fact that his children and grandchildren lacked both the interest and knowledge to lead daily and Shabbat services.
Thankyou, Z.E. for a well-written article presented at a critical time! I grew up in 1970s Oakland, California at Conservative "Temple Beth Abraham." My family was actively involved in several aspects of the Jewish Community. In retrospect, I felt very positive with the strength, enthusiasm & cohesion of the Bay Area's Jewish Community, and would readily claim that it was part of a Golden Era for that Jewish Community. Cut to 10/7, and its never-ending fall-out, the deliniations between Reform, Conservative, Recontructionist, and Orthodox movements are significantly more than merely a halachic difference. The differences have taken on a definite political nuance, & in doing so, have become a devisive force, fracturing the Jewish Community. As a young adult (& still today), I admired my Omama's active senior participation in synagogue life. She was at services without fail, every Shabbos. I treasured the feelings of reverance that embraced me when I accompanied her, davening by her side. I remember imagining that one day I, too, would be elderly, & I would regularly attend services. I am now in that general age bracket, and while I have no major excuse for not following in her steps, this significant fracture in Jewish identification & cohesiveness has created a longing for like-minded Jewish Community; A community that understands Jewish obligation toward Eretz Yisrael, & a community that understands that Judaism & the Land of Israel are interwoven and inseparable.
The Conservative Synagogue is a comfortable synagogue. It is not as rigid as an Orthodox shul, but there is more religion and tradition than in a Reform one. But, they are often very expensive to join, many with such elaborate sanctuaries. I was a member of one until it became uncomfortably expensive. The dues were high, but you also had to pledge to a building fund (and there was little compromise on what they wanted from each member.) That was tough on young families and the elderly, who no longer had children in Hebrew school. The board members were mostly wealthy and saw no problem with the money required (of course not). I always thought that the wealthy (who, to be fair, gave generously) could give more. Since those days, I have become rather happy with Chabad (and their more right-wing political attitude), but presently, living an hour or so from the local Chabad, I don't go to shul.
Another reason the Conservative movement has declined is that the younger generations were very poorly educated in their Hebrew Schools. They can barely read Hebrew, follow the service and worst of all never learned Torah. They also didn’t learn about the history of Israel. Services have become rigid and hard to relate to. The Books aren’t great either. Improving the education model and services wouldcertainly help
Thanks for the thought provoking article. Beyond the Masorti rebranding, the central hypothesis seems to be that people are looking for smaller, more homogenous or hyper-local communities and that enabling this shift requires dramatically expanding the rabbinic pipeline by making rabbinical training cheaper, faster, or more flexible.
I don’t doubt the appeal of more focused communities. A big part of why people attend synagogue events is to be around others with whom they share values or life experiences (see here: https://arisussman.substack.com/p/from-insight-to-action-a-case-study. But the key question is what’s lost in the shift: Will congregants be willing to give up the benefits of a scaled institution like religious school, physical space, or diverse programming? And will rabbis accept significantly lower compensation in exchange for leading a community that more closely aligns with their personal vision?
Chabad is a compelling model here, but it’s also powered by deeply mission-driven rabbis who make major sacrifices. Scaling a similar approach in a different context will require a serious reckoning with what trade-offs people are actually willing to make.
All incredibly good points! I definitely hear you on the other issues such as religious school. Something I’m continuously working on!
I don't know how unique I am, but I consider myself Conservative despite having never actually belonged to a Conservative shul (due to location). We're now at Chabad due to politics at the local non-Orthodox shuls.
To make a more Chabad-style approach work for the Conservative movement, I maybe change rabbinical training to more of an apprenticeship and recruit people as a part-time rather than full-time position. The example I know of was after retirement, I imagine there's other situations that could make it work.
That’s actually an excellent suggestion. There are many rabbinic interns and associate rabbis at big synagogues. Having them take on these roles will give them more autonomy and force them learn more on the job.
Ive left New York so no longer belong. If what you are saying is true then the movement is scarcely different than reform and will soon cease to exist.
A few comments on this excellent article. First, I think the author understates the degree to which the creation of Conservative Judaism, an entirely American invention, was a revulsion to the 19th century Reform movement. It wasn't really Reform's rejection of Jewish people hood. It was Reform's in your face vicious rejection of the entirety of Jewish tradition. People who know the history of Conservative Judaism (Neil Gillman's book is the go to) know about the Traifa Banquet in which leaders of the Reform movement planned a dinner to celebrate the Hebrew Union College and deliberately planned the least kosher meal imaginable. They did that knowing that there would be many guests who kept kosher. This led to the walkout of the leaders who would shortly found the Jewish Theological Seminary and would bring over Rabbi Solomon Schecter to lead it.
The second thing is that what a lot of people dont realize is that the Jewish Theological Seminary has become as left wing as any other campus in America. And when I say left wing I don't mean traditionally left wing. I mean radically left wing. The school is turning out highly politicized activist rabbis who are committed to pushing a radical social agenda and many are breaking with Israel if not entirely then for all practical purposes. It is these students who insist that Halacah bend to support modern social justice causes. These young Rabbis will and in many cases already are running the Rabbinical Assembly. The Rabbinate is not only observant in ways the congregations aren't (Something that has existed for 80 years) but they are much more virulently leftist than most of the Congregations. Not all but certainly a majority of JTS graduates in the 21st century fit this category. I honestly doubt the movement will survive at all. JTS may. But the USCJ won't.
How about returning to reading the full Torah portion? Get rid of the sermon replace with dvar Torah? Don't assume that our most burning cause is gay rights (it isn't), stop being so fancy and get rid of the guitar. Then I might return. In the meantime I live my Chabad.
My conservative synagogue read the full Torah portion each week and I kind of thought they all did.
Really? You are probably an outlier as all the conservative synagogues that I know of in Northern Virginia and my nephew's Brooklyn synagogue they're on a three year cycle making Simchat Torah rather strange. Guard your synagogue.
I also don't know any that have a guitar on Shabbat. Kind of thought that was a reform thing.
I still remember speaking with my mother’s cousin in Toronto a few years ago who has since passed away. He was an active member of Beth Tikvah including past president, and was bemoaning the fact that his children and grandchildren lacked both the interest and knowledge to lead daily and Shabbat services.