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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Opinion All the News on Jews’ Views: Comparing 3 Polls
There’s good news and bad news for President Obama in a new survey of American Jewish opinion released Thursday by the Workmen’s Circle. First, the bad news: Jewish voters favor Obama over Mitt Romney by about two to one — 59% to 27%, with 14% undecided. If undecideds follow the same 2-to-1 split, the result…
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News Conservatives Give Gay Wedding Guidance
When Gerald Skolnik, the president of a group of 1,600 Conservative rabbis, was asked to officiate at a gay wedding last year, he didn’t know where to start. “I was flying by the seat of my pants,” he said. Should the wedding look like a heterosexual ceremony, or something else entirely? Now he has guidelines…
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Fast Forward Conservative Jews Praise Obama After Meeting
A group of leaders from the Conservative movement praised President Barack Obama after holding an informal meeting May 29 at the White House. The 20 Conservative rabbis and lay leaders, who also met with White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew, said Obama emphasized his support for Israel and deep “appreciation of Jewish tradition.” “He…
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News Israel Can Defend Itself, Biden Tells Rabbis
Israel doesn’t need America’s permission to attack Iran, Vice President Joe Biden told a gathering of Conservative rabbis May 8. “Were I an Israeli, were I a Jew, I would not contract out my security to anybody, even a loyal, loyal, loyal friend like the United States,” Biden said. American and Israeli officials agree that…
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Opinion Is Our Tradition Liberal or Conservative?
Is the Jewish tradition inherently liberal or inherently conservative? The answer to this much-debated question is in fact quite simple: yes. If by “the Jewish tradition” we mean the sacred texts of our people, they can be read to defend a very wide variety of approaches to the world of politics. You certainly won’t find…
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Opinion What would you call me?
I have always been a Jew — and after a cursory dunk, the Conservative movement agrees.
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News Jews Cast Wary Eye on Evangelicals
Advocates for improved relations between Jews and Christian evangelicals had hoped that years of working together to support Israel would build bridges between the two otherwise distant communities. But a new poll indicates that mistrust and suspicion still run deep, at least on the Jewish side. Only one in five Jewish Americans holds favorable views…
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Opinion Jews Are Not as Liberal as It Seems
Perhaps you’ve heard about that new survey of Jews and social values. Released just before Passover, it has Jewish liberals high-fiving each other all the way from West End Avenue to West Hollywood. The results show Jewish liberalism at peak strength. Legal abortion (in “most” or “all” cases) is backed by 93% of respondents. Same-sex…
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Opinion A quiet diplomatic shift in the Middle East, with monumental consequences for Israel
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Fast Forward Mississippi fire suspect called the temple a ‘synagogue of Satan’
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News Why protests in Iran seem surprisingly pro-Israel
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News Synagogue arson suspect posted satirical antisemitic cartoon on day of the attack
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