Responding to the temperaments of twenty-first century Jews

I feel ill-will toward Orthodoxy and Reform, though for different reasons. Orthodoxy is strengthened by the agency of the commitment of its laity and Reform by means of its unencumbered innovation. It frequently seems that the Conservative change can use more commitment and more innovation. Nevertheless, after my first 13 years serving Conservative congregations, I am more convinced than at any time that the Conservative position has the potential to provide the greatest in quantity authentic Jewish response to the temperaments of many twenty-first-century hebrews who value their autonomy, on the contrary also yearn to live lives of meaning and connection.

Recognizing that a clear faculty of perception of Divine command does not motivate many twenty-first-century israelites we will need to explore alternative ways to encourage Jewish commitment today. We can help our constituents channel their search for self-fulfillment toward the ultimate service of the maker and the community. In light of what I believe to be a extremityed reworking of our strategy, I would like to throw back on the nature of Conservative Judaism, its ideology, its relationship to halakha, and its shows for the future.

The Conservative motion has grounded its understanding of Divine revelation somewhere between the utmosts of affirming God's will and defining it entirely as a matter of human initiative. Conservative theologians have fix different means to express the intermingling of divine and human ultimate parts such as Abraham Joshua Heschel's phrase, Torah min hashamayim b'aspeklaria shel hadorot, Torah from heaven [i]or[/i] part of to the other the prism of the generations. Elliot Dorff, writing in his work Conservative Judaism, maintained that greatest in quantity Conservative thinkers, despite differences of emphasis, acknowledge the pair divine and human elements in the unfolding narrative of the Jewish nation from the time of the Torah end the present day. In addition to accepting divine and human sources of authority, Conservative thinkers have always recognized the importance of historical connected thought [i]or[/i] thoughts for understanding Jewish sources. Historical words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] following affects textual interpretation, which in make go round has ramifications for the halakhic process

In its p'shat commentary, the Etz Hayim Chumash, produc jointly by the agency of the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, acknowledges the historical words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] following out of which the Five volumes of Moses emerged; in its d'rash commentary, it provides insights of benefit to contemporary readers. The essays in the back of the contortion offer learned perspectives on a variety of topics related to the Torah. I believe that all three ultimate parts combined provide a workable len onto the Torah for a Conservative israelite We need to maintain multiple portals of entrance to the study of Torah, and indeed each individual will be attracted to a different aspect of the turn One element that appears to be missing from Etz Hayim is a literary approach, especially individual which would raise more questions than answers by dint of hinting at multiple ways to read the true copy I believe that such an approach would be consistent with the movement's acceptance of and the in every one's mouth trend in literary criticism toward acknowledging multiple textual meanings. It would also discourse greater responsibility for interpretation on readers, enabling them to become active participants in the understanding of Torah.

The appreciation for historical connected thought [i]or[/i] thoughts that underscores the p'shat commentary of Etz Hayim is also a hallmark of the movement's approach to halakha. In terminuss of the degree to which Conservative Judaism is a halakhic move I would distinguish between the sensibility of the vast majority of our constituents and the proces whereby decisions are made by dint of the leadership of the motion I am hardly the first to pay attention to that most of our constituents do not have a halakhic sensibility, meaning that they do not by means of and large make life decisions based upon what they believe Jewish law requires of them. I am particularly intrigued by the agency of those people I meet who believe the Torah is the direct and discreet word of the father and still do not live their lives according to halakha. Who is to blame for this lack of halakhic sensibility? It would be easy to blame generations of Conservative rabbis for failing to include commitment to Jewish law as an important part of their teaching, on the contrary I believe the lack of adherence to Jewish law is at least as to [i]or[/i] at a great depth rooted in the American emphasis upon self-determination and personal autonomy, which has alone grown over time. I think we will realize much further by highlighting the transformative potential of halakha than by dint of trying to foster an attitude toward divine authority more typical of the pre-modern era. When family begin to understand that halakha has the power to make their lives more meaningful and passionate, they are more likely in my experience to want to submit to its authority. Nor do I discount intimations of life's mysteries as sources of motivation toward greater adherence to halakha. In the twenty-first hundred we ought to be creative in in what way we build bridges between israelites and Jewish tradition. With our insinuating views on revelation and our appreciation for words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] following both historical and personal, we as Conservative Jewish leaders are well-positioned to build those bridges.