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
The Latest
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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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Opinion How Conservative Judaism Lost Me
One of the most striking findings in the recent Pew Research Center survey on Jews in America is the massive decline of Conservative Judaism. While 43% of American Jews affiliated as Conservative Jews in 1990, just 18% do so today. This is causing much soul-searching in the Conservative movement. The reasons for this decline are…
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News Space to Spare, Reform and Conservative Congregations Turn to Orthodox
(JTA) — Marla Topp of Temple Judea Mizpah in Skokie, Ill., doesn’t need survey data to tell her that Reform Judaism is in decline and Orthodox Judaism is growing. She has to look no further than her own synagogue. A couple of months ago, the temple began renting out unused classroom space to an Orthodox…
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News Conservatives Use 100-Year Marker To Push ‘Restart’ Button
At the recent centennial celebration of American Judaism’s Conservative movement, the top issue on everyone’s mind was nowhere on the formal agenda. But then, when leaders of the movement began planning the schedule for their conference months ago, the landmark survey of American Jews, released on October 1 by the Pew Research Center was still…
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Fast Forward Conservative United Synagogue Centennial Highlights Tough Times Ahead
(JTA) — It will be years before it’s clear whether or not this week’s conference of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism was a success. To be sure, the centennial gathering in Baltimore by nearly all accounts was a far more dynamic and well-attended biennial than those of recent years, drawing some 1,200 people. But…
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News Conservatives Mark Centennial With Push To Stem Drastic Decline
Convening for its centennial conference under the cloud of a recent survey indicating a steep drop in affiliation, the Conservative synagogue movement is trying to use the landmark gathering to mark a fresh beginning. A hundred years after the group’s founding with an ideal of combining Jewish tradition with modern life, Conservative leaders are hoping…
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Fast Forward Reform and Conservative Rabbis Dovish on Israel
U.S. rabbis in the Reform and Conservative movements tend to be dovish on Israeli-Palestinian peace policies, according to a study. Asked whether Israel should freeze settlement building, 62 percent of the rabbis agreed to a “great extent” and 18 percent agreed to “some extent,” according to the study commissioned by the Jewish Council for Public…
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Fast Forward Conservative Leaders Say They’re Ready For Change As Biennial Conference Looms
(JTA) — When the main synagogue organization of Conservative Jewry gathers this weekend in Baltimore to celebrate its centennial, there will be a lot to talk about. The number of synagogues affiliated with the group, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, is in decline. The proportion of American Jews who identify as Conservative has shrunk…
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