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March 25, 2005/Adar II 14 5765, Volume 57, No. 30
Conservative leaders ponder future
CHANAN TIGAY
Jewish Telegraphic Service
NEW YORK - Is Conservative Judaism a united movement, or is it more of a coalition of approaches to Jewish observance?
That's a question some Conservative rabbis are asking after taking a long, hard look at themselves during a recent convention in Houston.
Since its inception, the Conservative movement has walked a fine line between adhering to halachah, or Jewish law, and embracing modernity and a modern approach to religious observance. Its legal scholars have in some instances hewed strictly to traditional interpretations of the legal code and in others have adapted it to more current thinking.
With its numbers in decline and its population aging, some observers outside the Conservative fold have predicted the movement's ultimate demise. And while Conservative leaders strongly dispute such dire prognostications, there seems to be a growing consensus among them that the stream needs a serious shot in the arm if it hopes to thrive alongside its revitalized Reform and Orthodox counterparts.
"I see that this is a call to action rather than a cause for alarm," said Judy Yudof, international president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the movement's congregational arm.
According to the National Jewish Population Survey 2000-01, only 33 percent of 4.3 million affiliated American Jews identified as Conservative. That represented a drop of 10 percentage points over the past decade - a period during which Reform and Orthodox ranks swelled. This finding represented the first time since the inception of such surveys in 1971 that Reform Jews outnumbered Conservative Jews.
But leaders insist it's not all bad news. They cite an increasing number of day schools and day-school students as a sign of strength.
Jonathan Sarna, a professor of Jewish history at Brandeis University who delivered a plenary address at the convention, said that Conservative Judaism, which once was supposed to be an inclusive tent, has become narrower and more constricted in recent decades, leading to its shrinking appeal.
"In religion, a centrist movement, if it seeks to remain healthy and grow, needs constantly to widen its circle of adherents," Sarna said in his address. "Tragically, the Conservative movement's circle over the past four decades has, instead, narrowed and constricted."
Sarna, though, said that the movement could take heart from the resurgence of Reform and Orthodox Judaism, both of which were able to effect large turnarounds after years of declining vitality.
A substantial portion of the Reform movement's growth, said Rabbi Jeffrey A. Wohlberg, senior rabbi of Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C., can be traced to that movement's decision to accept as members non-Jews who have married Jews, along with people who are not Jewish according to a strict interpretation of halachah.
"That has given energy to the Reform movement and that is something that we have to recognize. But we, the Conservative movement, don't agree with it," said Wohlberg, who is an officer of the assembly.
"People have always said that it's easier to live on the right or the left - the middle requires a lot more thought and more analysis," he added.
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