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 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Is One of Israel’s Strongest Backers — But Why?
(JTA) — It took seven years, but one of Israel’s staunchest allies among world leaders will be making his maiden voyage to the Jewish state on Sunday. In announcing the trip last month at a Jewish National Fund dinner, where he was being honored, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Israel “a light of freedom…
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Opinion Intermarriage Rorschach Test
Is intermarriage good for the Jews? This is not a trick question. It’s the new Rorschach test in determining how you think about the Jewish future. If you believe, as does the leadership of the Reform movement, that intermarriage is a fact of modern life, an inevitability in an open society where Jews are —…
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News Conservative Rabbis Set To Debate Opening the Door to Intermarrieds
A top Conservative movement official thinks that Conservative rabbis should be allowed to participate in interfaith weddings. Now explicitly barred by the movement, the proposal — put forward by Rabbi Charles Simon of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs — is one of a handful of new efforts by Conservative rabbis to loosen restrictions on…
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News Solomon Schechter Schools May Open Doors to Non-Jews
(JTA) — Synagogues aren’t the only institutions in the Conservative movement changing their policies to become more welcoming to non-Jews and interfaith families. The movement’s school network, Solomon Schechter, is too. Last week, the organization’s board voted to set up a task force to reconsider its admissions policies, which limit enrollment to Jews or non-Jews…
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Opinion Real Issue for Conservative Judaism Is Authenticity
To be perfectly clear: I believe that the struggle for gender equality within Judaism has brought enormous benefits to Jewish society. The point of my essay was to help explain why Conservative Judaism has not been able to retain its youth by reflecting on why it did not satisfy me. When I wrote that it…
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Opinion I Am Not a Distraction to Conservative Judaism
A line in Michah Gottlieb’s heartfelt cri de coeur about why he left Conservative Judaism for Orthodoxy jumped out at me. In a column published two weeks ago in the Forward, the New York University professor described his gradual disenchantment with the lackluster observance and intellectual dishonesty of the Conservative movement of his youth. Chief…
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News ‘Christmas Tree Rabbis’ Take Place in Faith as Intermarriage Grows
(JTA) — When Eric Woodward started rabbinical school at the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary, he assumed he would be be the only student who grew up celebrating Christmas along with Hanukkah. But midway through his training, when Woodward started a discussion group for students of interfaith families, more than 20 people showed up. Not all…
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News For Conservative Jews, Few Inches Raise Vexing Questions on Interfaith Families
(JTA) — To an outsider, the battles might seem to be over trifles — in some cases, just a few feet. Where may a non-Jewish parent stand in the synagogue during his child’s bar mitzvah? Can a non-Jew open the holy ark? Should non-Jewish synagogue members have voting rights? Such questions have been pushed to…
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