Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Conservative Bigs Tackle New Realities

This weekend’s gathering of Conservative movement leaders will be the first to take place since the movement accepted gay rabbis and same-sex unions, and the last before the departure of two of the movement’s top leaders.

The Conservative movement has struggled in recent years to maintain a sense of identity without abandoning its “big tent” philosophy and to boost its sagging membership. This turmoil has been exacerbated in the past year by the movement’s change in policy toward gays and lesbians — and by a change in the leadership at the Conservative-affiliated Jewish Theological Seminary, which brought in a new chancellor, Arnold Eisen.

More change is imminent as leaders of the movement’s two wings — United Synagogue and the Rabbinical Assembly — prepare to retire in 2009.

In the midst of all this, Conservative rabbis and lay leaders will gather this weekend in Orlando, Fla., for their biannual conference.

Neither the recent changes nor those to come are being given top billing on the conference agenda. Instead, the convention will focus on broader issues of forging a coherent identity and retaining members — along with the movement’s new Heckscher Tzedek, or Justice Certification, which aims to add an ethical component to kosher food.

In that vein, Jerome Epstein, whose 23-year tenure as executive vice president of United Synagogue will soon come to an end, will “seek to reposition his movement” in his remarks at the convention, according to a press release. He will urge the Conservative movement to “stay true to its traditional core” rather than focusing on outreach to its fringe constituencies.

In an interview with the Forward, Epstein said that his argument is unrelated to the dispute over gays and lesbians.

“What I’m talking about is conserving Judaism, which is what the Conservative movement was designed to do,” Epstein said. “The way you hold on to members is to give them authentic Judaism, not to water it down. It’s not about the individual decisions on [Jewish law] or policy; it’s about infusing those [decisions] with meaning so people can understand them.”

Epstein said that he will not address his pending retirement in his talk, pointing out that he will remain at United Synagogue’s helm for another 18 months. “I’m not running away from the organization, and I’ll still be around to be of help, should the next [executive vice president] want that,” he said.

Also departing in 2009 is the executive director of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly, Rabbi Joel Myers.

Some see the changes at the seminary, combined with the coming leadership vacuum, as an opportunity to reshape the way decisions are made within the Conservative movement. Rabbi Menachem Creditor, a vocal proponent of gay and women’s rights, questioned whether the United Synagogue is prepared to do the legwork of finding out exactly who constitutes the movement’s “core.”

“Responsive leadership is what we need, and with the search for new leadership, we have a chance of getting it,” he said.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.