The Conservative Movement in Judaism: Dilemmas and Opportunities

by Elazar, Daniel J.; Geffen, Rela M.

• ISBN13: 9780791446898
• ISBN10: 0791446891
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Viewing the Conservative Movement at a turning point, this book analyzes the problems facing the largest religious movement in the American Jewish community and outlines a plan of action for the future. Elazar and Geffen suggest: clarifying ideology, mission, and purpose, finding the right balance between traditionalists and advocates of change, unifying movement institutions in a cooperative effort, staunching the decline of membership to the left, recapturing the loyalty of lapsed adherents, closing the gap in observance between the laity and the standard bearers of the movement, developing the Movement in Israel and world-wide, and strengthening ties with Jewish federations and other Jewish communal bodies. The authors propose that the Conservative Movement's remedying of these problems will benefit not just American, but all world Jewry.

Author Biography

Daniel J. Elazar was the President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and Professor Emeritus of Intergovernmental Relations at Bar-Ilan University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction: Conservative Judaism: Past and Future	1	(1)
The Conservative Achievement	1	(3)
Confronting Difficult Issues	4	(3)
Methodology of This Study	7	(1)
Looking Toward the Future	8	(3)
Part I: The State of the Movement	11	(148)
A History of Ambivalence	13	(16)
A Reluctant Separation	14	(5)
The Movement As a Party	19	(5)
From Party to Camp?	24	(5)
Institutions	29	(24)
The Changing Position of the Seminary	29	(2)
The Congregational Heart of the Movement	31	(3)
The Variety of Congregational Models	34	(7)
A Note on Youth Movements	41	(2)
New Institutions Emerge	43	(1)
The Ramah Camps	43	(4)
The Havurot	47	(1)
The Solomon Schechter Schools	48	(5)
Ideology and Theology	53	(16)
God, Torah, and Israel	54	(5)
Shifts and Stages	59	(6)
Benchmarks and Boundaries	65	(4)
Style	69	(22)
Sephardim and Litvaks	69	(2)
Elite and Mass	71	(3)
Rabbinical Preeminence	74	(5)
Synagogism	79	(3)
Religious Observance	82	(9)
Demographics	91	(26)
Concentric Circles of Jewishness	91	(8)
Decline in the Fourth Generation	99	(6)
Orthodoxy Resurgent	105	(3)
The Changing Family	108	(4)
A Note on Regionalism in the Conservative Movement	112	(5)
Leadership	117	(10)
In the Movement	117	(2)
In the Congregations	119	(3)
In the Jewish World	122	(1)
Voluntary Leadership in the Existing Institutional Framework	122	(5)
The World Movement	127	(18)
The New Context of World Jewry	128	(1)
The Scope of the World Conservative/Masorti Movement	129	(5)
The Movement in Israel	134	(6)
A Missed Direction	140	(1)
A New Partnership	141	(4)
What the Movement's Leadership Seeks	145	(14)
Raising the Halakhic Profile	146	(1)
Enhancing Conservative Intellectual Life	147	(2)
Addressing the Spiritual Needs of Conservative Jews	149	(2)
The Communal Approach	151	(1)
The Zionist Approach	152	(1)
Resolving Conflicts, Setting Priorities	153	(6)
Part II: Next Steps	159	(46)
Ideology, Halakhah, and a Broadened Base	161	(22)
The Need for Ideological Clarification	162	(5)
Fostering a More Serious Halakhic Movement	167	(2)
Broadening the Base	169	(3)
Confronting the Demographic Challenge	172	(2)
Building a Real World Movement	174	(1)
Building a Masorti Movement in Israel	175	(4)
Is Conservative Judaism Best Served through a Single Movement or a Multi-Movement Community?	179	(1)
Links to the Jewish People	180	(3)
Internal Unity	183	(22)
From Congregationalism to Community	183	(2)
Reducing the Gap between the Circles	185	(4)
Integrating the Movement's Parts into a Whole	189	(4)
Broadening the Leadership	193	(2)
The Role of the Jewish Theological Seminary	195	(2)
Strengthening Rabbinic Leadership	197	(1)
Learning from History: A Summary and Final Word	198	(7)
Glossary	205	(4)
Notes	209	(16)
Index	225