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
-
Opinion When Thinkers Get It Wrong — And Escape Blame
These waning days of December are traditionally a time for journalists to sum up the events of the past year and choose highlights for your consideration. A favorite approach is to pick winners and losers, but given the year we’ve just had, that doesn’t feel right. Sure, Obama won and Romney lost. Then what? Instead,…
-
Fast Forward Reform, Conservative Leaders Join Gun Control Call
Top rabbis from the Reform and Conservative movements will join an interfaith call for greater gun controls in the wake of last week’s school massacre in Connecticut. Rabbi David Saperstein, who directs the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, and Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, who directs the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, will appear at a press conference…
-
Opinion No Divisions Between Jews When Rockets Fly
Like many Jewish leaders, I have devoted the majority of my professional life to advocating on behalf of my denomination. Sometimes the need is concrete, other times ideological. From supporting the worldwide network of the 600-plus Conservative kehillot to agitating on behalf of a Judaism that is pluralistic, intellectually compelling and rooted in tradition, my…
-
Fast Forward Day School Ends Boy Scouts Tie Over Gay Issue
A Conservative Jewish day school will not renew its Boy Scouts charter because of the organization’s policy excluding gay and lesbian adults as leaders. The Golda Och Academy in West Orange, N.J., said in a letter to parents last week that the Scouts’ policy presents a “problematic image for many families. “To exclude same-sex families…
-
Fast Forward Flash Mob Calls for Israel Religious Tolerance
More than 2,500 people signed up to participate in a global Shema flash mob as part of a campaign to promote religious pluralism in Israel. The gatherings early Monday afternoon came two days after Conservative Jewish congregations were asked to dedicate a recitation of the Shema to the topic as well. The actions were a…
-
Opinion Religious Freedom for Israelis, Too
I am the son of a Yekke. My father was born in Germany. His parents escaped to Palestine in the nick of time, just before World War II broke out. Both were doctors, but they came with no Hebrew and there was no work for them. It was tough. They may have left Germany behind…
-
Opinion In Praise of Day Schools
As the mother of two grade-school boys in a Conservative day school, I read the Jewish Community Study of New York: 2011, a comprehensive survey of the world’s largest and most diverse Jewish community outside Israel, with great interest. It has clearly raised some significant issues and pointed out real challenges facing the Conservative movement….
-
News Will Schechter Schools Leave Conservatives?
The beleaguered Schechter Day School Network — an educational pillar of Conservative Judaism — is considering leaving its parent organization as it grapples with shrinking enrollment and shuttered schools, the Forward has learned. The Schechter network has been under the aegis of the movement’s congregational arm, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, since its founding…
Explore
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I come from a long line of Jewish Bundists. Now, Molly Crabapple is part of our family.
-
Opinion American Jews have a Hasan Piker problem. Solving it is going to hurt
-
Fast Forward 200+ Bnei Menashe immigrate to Israel from India, the first to make the journey in years
-
Yiddish װאָס קען מען זיך אָפּלערנען פֿון מאָלי קראַבעפּלס בוך װעגן „בונד“?What can we learn from Molly Crabapple’s book about the Bund?
דאָס בוך איז גרונטיק געפֿאָרשט, לעבעדיק אָנגעשריבן — אָבער אידעאָלאָגיש באַפֿאַרבט