Never mind electric cars. The Conservative movement has bigger problems
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Roberta Rosenthal Kwall August 4, 2023
The Conservative movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards recently issued two opposite, but equally valid, rulings on whether it is permissible to use electric cars to drive to synagogue on Shabbat.
One opinion held that the use of electric cars is permissible but only for “Shabbat purposes.” The other opinion sees driving a car of any type as prohibited, despite the laudable motives of those driving to synagogue. A few CJLS members even voted to approve both (an allowable practice).
I have no doubt that the esteemed members of the CJLS, particularly the authors of these well-crafted opinions, spent significant time and energy thinking about the appropriate application of Jewish law (halacha) in this context. But given the movement’s declining numbers, it seems as though it would be a better use of the leadership’s time to focus on empowering Conservative Jews to deepen their connection to traditional observance, rather than fine-tuning modes of permissible transportation to synagogue.
I think Conservative Jewish leaders can successfully persuade their flocks to augment their Shabbat and other ritual observances, and such pressing initiatives should be taking center stage in their discussions.
Along these lines, the prominent Conservative rabbi, Elliot Cosgrove, recently argued in Sources Journal that Conservative Judaism should be less focused on halachic technicalities and more concerned with “the lived lives of Jews.” He even suggested that the CJLS be renamed as the “Committee on Jewish Life and Spirit, with its sole focus to inspire, educate, and empower Jews towards a life of religious observance.”
As a lifelong Conservative congregant and a scholar who has written extensively about the cultural influences on halacha, I believe Cosgrove is right: Jewish ritual needs to be taken more seriously by non-Orthodox Jews, including many who identify with the Conservative movement.
All too often, the universalized aspects of Judaism such as social justice in the form of tikkun olam, take center stage when it comes to synagogue programming. As one Jewish Federation official once told me, Jewish ritual just doesn’t sell!
The Conservative movement occupies a middle ground between Orthodoxy and Reform, where Conservative Judaism understands halacha as the written product of human beings produced in specific times and places. This norms-based perspective departs from the Orthodox view that halacha expressly embodies Divine command.
The CJLS has always grappled with striking a delicate balance between, on the one hand, looking outside Jewish tradition to ensure the relevance of its rulings, while on the other hand, embracing a version of Judaism that emphasizes the importance of normative religious ritual.
Today, Conservative Judaism faces pressure to become increasingly liberal in order to draw younger members who are, in general, less observant than their parents. According to the 2020 Pew Study, about 30% of Jews under 30 feel it is not “at all” important for their future grandchildren to be Jewish, and this group also has the weakest sense of belonging to the Jewish people.
But it is also true that individuals and communities affiliated with the Conservative movement display a greater ability to embrace a higher level of observance than many religiously liberal Jews. According to the results of both the 2013 and 2020 Pew Studies of the American Jewish community, more ritual observance exists among Conservative Jews compared to those who are Reform. These data points include synagogue membership and attendance, fasting on Yom Kippur, lighting Shabbat candles and keeping a kosher home.
Conservative Judaism also must pay more attention to the topic of faith. Notwithstanding Andrew Silow-Carroll’s recent observation that the Conservative movement’s manual for rabbinic search committees states that it is rare for a synagogue to not want its rabbi to “have been inspired to serve God,” I can count on one hand the number of sermons I’ve heard that focus on belief in God. The life and spirit of Jewish discourse requires more conversations about the nature of faith and why it matters.
If Conservative Judaism is to retain its relevance, it must devise and implement strategies that will facilitate the transmission of a distinct and robust brand of Jewish practice to the next generation. Toward this end, I applaud the following sentiment expressed in a separate joint paper by the four authors of the two opinions: “it is the hope of the authors that both of these papers can be used in a pedagogical fashion to launch discussions of Shabbat observance that go far beyond the technicalities of whether or not it is permitted to drive to enhance one’s Shabbat experience.”
Younger Jews are increasingly separating into two groups — one that is extremely observant, and another with little or no religious observance. In this environment, a centrist Jewish space that possesses enough substance to facilitate the transmission of our timeless tradition in ways that are realistically viable becomes especially critical. I want to believe Conservative Judaism can meet this challenge.
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