This is the Forward’s coverage of Conservative Judaism, one of the three major streams of U.S. Judaism. Conservative Jews are generally more observant than Reform Jews but less so than Orthodox Jews. The movement is led by the…
Conservative Judaism
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Fast Forward First Canadian Picked To Lead Conservative Rabbinical Assembly
— The Rabbinical Assembly, the international association of Conservative rabbis, has elected its first Canadian president. Rabbi Philip Scheim, who has led Beth David Congregation in Toronto since 1984, was elected by the membership and will be installed Sunday at an event in New York. Scheim succeeds Rabbi William Gershon of Dallas, who took a…
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Fast Forward Top Conservative Rabbi Quits Synagogue, Citing ‘Sexual Identity’
The president of the Conservative Jewish movement’s rabbinical arm left his post as the rabbi of a Dallas synagogue, citing apparent marital infidelity and questions about his sexuality. “I am very saddened to admit, both to you and to myself, that even as I strove to be present in the lives of so many people,…
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Fast Forward 2 Suburban Boston Conservative Synagogues Agree To Join Forces
Two historic Boston-area Conservative synagogues are planning to join forces and cohabit on a shared campus, following votes by the leaders of both institutions. In a joint meeting on April 6, the Board of Directors and Trustees of Congregation Mishkan Tefila voted to sign a memorandum of understanding with Congregation Kehillath Israel, paving the way…
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Fast Forward Conservative Synagogues Get $375K To Better Include Disabled
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is launching a new push to help congregations become inclusive of people with disabilities. The initiative, funded by a $375,000 three-year grant from the Ruderman Family Foundation, will involve up to 20 congregations. Each synagogue will assess its current handling of disabilities issues, create an action plan to become…
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News Conservative Prayer Book Reaches Out to Diverse New Generation
Do Jews still want to call God their Lord, King and Master? Maybe not. Some words and phrases like this won’t resonate for many American Jews, said Rabbi Edward Feld, the senior editor of a new prayer book for the Conservative movement, Siddur Lev Shalem. “The word ‘king’ is just empty for people living in…
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News Historic Jewish Theological Seminary Plans $96M Campus Modernization
The 130-year-old Jewish Theological Seminary of America is embarking on a $96 million multi-year modernization that will keep its storied past safe — and carry the spiritual center for Conservative Judaism into the next century. JTS officials on Monday said they have put together a deal to sell one old dorm, a small parcel of…
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Opinion The 2 Options Left for Conservative Judaism
(JTA) — The Conservative movement was once the very embodiment of what it meant to be an “American Jew.” As the 130th anniversary of the founding of its flagship Jewish Theological Seminary approaches in 2016, the centrist movement that historically straddled the polarities of Reform and Orthodox is struggling to maintain its identity and attract…
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Opinion The Left’s Double Standard on ‘Tolerance’
When is open dialogue prized, and when is it synonymous with capitulation? Two disputes that happened within a day of each other highlighted that question along the deepest fault lines in modern Jewish life: the dispute over religious pluralism, and the relationship between Israeli Jews and their Arab neighbors. On December 9, Israel’s Ashkenazi chief…
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Fast Forward For the Jewish community in central Texas, deadly flooding hits close to home
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Opinion I’m a Zionist Democrat. Mamdani has me asking if I must choose between my ideals and identity
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