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
-
Food Kitniyot Kosher for Pesach, Conservative Movement Rules
Editor’s note: In 2016, the Conservative Movement ruled to overturn an 800-year ban on kitniyot, the legumes, corn and rice that observant Ashkenazi Jews typically remove from their homes before Passover. Some Conservative and Reform Jews had been happily enjoying kitniyot on Passover for years. Some began doing so once restrictions had relaxed. Others continued…
-
Fast Forward Conservative Movement leaders say virtual minyans are permissible during ‘crisis situation’
(JTA) — The leaders of the Conservative movement’s Jewish law committee issued a crisis declaration allowing the recitation of the Mourner’s Kaddish with a virtual online prayer quorum. In a statement issued this week, Rabbis Elliot Dorff and Pamela Barmash, the co-chairs of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, said that given the current…
-
Fast Forward Conservative movement apologizes for list of innovative rabbis that featured only men
(JTA) — The Conservative movement’s congregational umbrella group apologized for publishing an article about innovative rabbis that only included men. The article by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in the February issue of its Journeys publication featured five rabbis who “meet people where they are.” Among other things, the rabbis organized events in cafes…
-
Fast Forward Liberal Rabbis Join Trump’s High Holiday Call After 2-Year Absence
Rabbis from the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements will participate in the White House’s annual High Holidays conference call on Friday, a change in procedure after two years without participating. Rabbi Debra Newman Kamin, the president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the union of Conservative rabbis, told the Forward on Thursday that their board had taken…
-
Fast Forward Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Arnold Eisen To Step Down
(JTA) — Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Arnold Eisen will leave his position at the end of the current academic year. Eisen, who has served for 12 years, will remain on the faculty of the Conservative movement’s seminary. He will continue to teach and research, according to a JTS statement issued Thursday. In the spring, Eisen…
-
Opinion Think Israel Is A White Supremacy? Congratulations: Richard Spencer Taught You Well.
In recent years, we have seen two lines of argument used with increasing frequency to mainstream the delegitimization of Israel. The first is characterizing Israel as fundamentally racist because it is a Jewish state. The second is identifying right-wing support for Israel in the United States with nationalist, white supremacist views. Peter Beinart impressively managed…
-
News A Thriving Synagogue Hired Its First Female Head Rabbi. Here’s Why That Matters.
Most job interviews are little more than sitting in a windowless room, answering questions from a manager with your resume in one hand and coffee in the other. For rabbis aiming for the pulpit, they’re a little different. This past winter, Temple Israel Center, a large Conservative synagogue in Westchester County, New York, had four…
-
Fast Forward Conservative Rabbinical Group Appoints Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal As Its New Head
(JTA) — The Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly appointed Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal as its new chief executive. Blumenthal, the spiritual leader at Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg, Maryland, will start in July, the organization announced Thursday. He succeeds Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, the first woman to serve as chief executive of a major rabbinical organization. She announced in March 2018 that…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Inside the ancient Christian theology driving modern antisemitism
- 2
News Jews paused Indiana’s abortion ban — by turning a religious freedom law against the evangelical right
- 3
Opinion The moral degradation of Israel’s far right is even worse than you think
- 4
Culture In 1989, Harold Pinter and Jerry Schatzberg made the perfect Holocaust movie for 2026
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Connecticut Catholic school punishes students who targeted ‘Jew Canaan’ rivals on social media
-
Fast Forward Pro-Palestinian rally at Buchenwald memorial is shut down by German authorities
-
Fast Forward Argentina designates Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization
-
Culture This isn’t Barbra Streisand’s ‘Yentl’ — it isn’t I.B. Singer’s either
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
