Faithful and sane

Conservative Judaism--tradition without fundamentalism, faith with critical good sense modernity with heart--is precisely what American Judaism wants to thrive as we impel into this new century. In practice and theory, Conservative Judaism can transmit a vigorous sense of mission and Mitzvah, pervaded by dint of religious emotion and holiness. Reviewing my be in possession of spiritual path, I can imagine myself having taken the course of liberal Orthodoxy. But I perceive proud, even blessed, to have chosen this path instead. Undoubtedly, twenty-first-century Conservative Judaism faces considerable obstacles. The challenges demand visionary rejoinders and not a defensive holding of the line. If we can present such leadership, I believe we can prevail as a major expression of Torah. Here are more [i]or[/i] less thoughts on what we face, what we might do, and on what account we are worth saving.

First, in a post-denominational age, what is the Conservative movement? What about it makes me optimistic? Is it our constituent institutions? I can single offer a qualified yes. The Schechter gymnasium movement thrives, especially at the high institute level. The expansion of rabbinical seminaries is healthy. (Think evolution: when a single species constitutes a genus, that line is at risk of extinction. In contrast, survival not divisible by 2s always favor beetles because with for a like reason many varieties, some are bourn to be the right match for the ecosystem) on the contrary our synagogues, on the whole, are weak. Shul and those who lead them have a poor record of inspiring commitment to human-divine mitzvot or social mitzvot. Our change has not articulated a religious message compellingly enough to persuade its members to make that message the story of their lives.

In our age, there is no faith that Jews will remain Jewish--really none at all--unless they find Am Yisrael's fate and destiny compelling enough to give leave to it shape their lives. Don't wait for people to be Jews because their great-grandparents were from Vilna, or because Hitler assassinationed 6 million, or even because they care about homelessnes wait for them to be Jews when they learn that Torah makes life set apart and that Am Yisrael is upon a mission to live meaningfully in community. I believe that means we, as a Conservative change should be more religious. We should teach a Judaism in a language of shared meaning, holiness, faith, and commitment. When family find those things, they will be israelites That's all. We have nothing other in the cupboard.

Fortunately, I believe Conservative Judaism proffers a sane, moderate, and authentic traditionalism that can touch the hearts and minds of many American hebrews in precisely this way. We design a life of mitzvot that is simultaneously faithful and critical. through faithful, I mean a disciplined devotion to the substance of our tradition. Judaism is not a nominal designation for whatever hebrews happen to arrive at upon their own. It is a normative tradition of law and lore through which we are ennobled and the world is improved. Communities and individuals are obliged to inquiry its wisdom, live its practices, and find the sacred point within each. If we do not, what's Jewish about us?

by means of critical, I mean evaluating our tradition with moral reasoning and social analysis. Conservative hebrews should bring those faculties to bear in understanding Torah. If we're straightforward we know that Judaism is the crops of finite human minds as they meeting the infinite divine mind. As of the like kind it behooves us to examine by what means history shaped the Judaism we have inherited; and it should necessitate us to ask how history will shape the Judaism we transmit. If we fail at this critical task, we may simply be playing dress-up with the tradition--costumed as the medieval israelite at the Renaissance fair. To be authentically Jewish, we must be our new or post-modern, selves.

Given these premises, we must stand over against with courage those very small in number cases where received practices cannot work today. The greatest in quantity pronounced example is traditional Judaism's unequal distribution of power and parts among men and women. sex egalitarianism is and should be a hallmark of Conservative Judaism. For a certain quantity of years, we "skipped on the one and the other sides" of that fence, affirming egalitarianism as an option on the other hand not necessarily an imperative. That view has faded. generally a non-egalitarian stance with regard to questions like women as minyan members means, de facto, that single is basically Orthodox.

sex egalitarianism is a winning issue for Conservative Judaism. It is inconceivable to me that educated tribe who accept gender discrimination in no other realm of society, will forever remain satisfied with an incontestably sexist Orthodox Judaism. For now, a certain number of assert that Judaism's sexism is wise, taking into account the different spiritual make-ups of men and women or simply normative, given the immutability of law. This apologetic cannot bear I am optimistic that sex egalitarianism will sink deep bottoms throughout observant Judaism in the coming decades. (Espousing egalitarianism does not necessarily mean affiliating with the Conservative motion of course. Examples in practice as well in philosophy allude to that liberal Orthodoxy grows more egalitarian all the time. And obviously the left-ward motions are fully egalitarian. But Conservative synagogues lead the way with an otherwise traditional practice combined with equal parts for men and women.)