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 United Synagogue Youth Eases Rule on Dating Non-Jews
lior zaltzman (JTA) — United Synagogue Youth voted to relax its rules barring teenage board members from dating non-Jews. The amendment was adopted Monday in Atlanta at the annual international convention of the Conservative movement’s youth group. The USY board also elected not to adopt a controversial proposal to eliminate the organization’s requirement that teen board…
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News Rabbi Wesley Gardenswartz Backs Off Controversial Plan for Intermarriages
(JTA) — Within days of floating a proposal that woud have allowed Conservative rabbis to perform interfaith marriages, Rabbi Wesley Gardenswartz of Temple Emanuel in Newton, Mass., backed away from the controversial plan. In a recent email, Gardenswartz asked congregants to consider a proposal for a new shul policy that would enable him to officiate at…
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News Rabbi Harold Schulweis, Pathbreaking Thinker, Dies at 89
(JTA) — As a pathbreaking thinker, innovator and activist, Rabbi Harold Schulweis’ role extended far beyond his base as the spiritual leader of his Los Angeles-area congregation. “Harold Schulweis was widely regarded as the most successful and influential synagogue leader in his generation, a public intellectual who redefined what it is to be a Jew, an…
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Fast Forward British Lawmaker Gets ‘Dirty Pig’ Death Threats for Being Jewish
A member of Britain’s Parliament said he has received death threats because he is Jewish. Lee Scott, the Conservative lawmaker of the Ilford North constituency, said he has received five death threats in the past year. On Tuesday, during a debate on anti-Semitism in Parliament, Scott detailed some of the abuse, including an incident in…
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Opinion Bibi’s $40M Settlement Giveaway Blocked
Hours before Israel’s Knesset voted Monday evening to disperse and head to elections, Prime Minister Netanyahu asked the finance committee to approve an “emergency” grant to settlements in the West Bank of some 160 million shekels ($40 million). Netanyahu was acting in his capacity as acting finance minister, following his firing last week of incumbent…
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Fast Forward JTS’s Arnold Eisen Opposes Israel Jewish State Bill
The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York has come out against Israel’s proposed nation-state bill, which would enshrine into law Israel’s status as Jewish state. In a written statement Wednesday, Arnold Eisen, chancellor of Conservative Jewry’s flagship seminary, said that JTS was “alarmed” by the Knesset’s consideration of the bill. “We hope that the State’s…
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Fast Forward British Lawmaker Defends ‘Jewish Lobby’ Remark in Palestine State Debate
A British Parliament member defended his reference to a “Jewish lobby” during a House of Commons debate on a symbolic motion to recognize Palestine statehood. On Tuesday, Andrew Bridgen of the Conservative Party stood by his statement during discussion of the motion a day earlier that “the political system of the world’s superpower and our…
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News Rabbi Gil Steinlauf Wins Wide Support From Conservatives After Coming Out as Gay
(JTA) — Gil Steinlauf, a nationally prominent Conservative rabbi, made headlines this month when he announced to his large Washington, D.C., synagogue that he is gay, and that he and his wife of 20 years would divorce. As surprised as his congregants at Adas Israel may have been by the news, it was Steinlauf, the…
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