Continuing the Conversation

Oct 4, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen

Chancelor Eisen has previously recorded three essays relating to Conservative Judaism. One on Covenant, one on Community, and one on Peoplehood. All of these essays received many comments, and such a debate is encouraged. Therefore, Chancellor Eisen now responds to a selection of the comments he received.

Peoplehood

Oct 4, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen

Judaism, especially Conservative Judaism sees the need for Jews to be a people, different from the rest of the community in which they live. However, Conservative Judaism is also inherently pluralistic, in that Conservative Jews can feel comfortable in a variety of services, whether they are Orthodox or Reform. What other ways can peoplehood benefit Judaism?

Community

Oct 4, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen

Community is very important in Judaism, but how does it affect Conservative Judaism? What can a strong community do to a synagogue, if instead of everyone just coming to pray, they also come in to study? How can a strong community improve on what Conservative Judaism already has?

Covenant

Oct 4, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen

We know that in the Torah, a covenant is made between God and Israel. But, how is this covenant still relevant today? Is it? And how does it relate to Conservative Judaism?

Va-yikra’s Lessons for Conservative Jews

Mar 16, 2002 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayikra

This week marks the beginning of the third book of the Torah, Vayikra, alternately referred to in Hebrew as Torat Kohanim, the ‘teaching of the priests’, and in Latin as Leviticus. Modern scholars and traditional commentators alike highlight the positioning of Vayikra , literally at the heart of the Five Book of Moses. Such placement of Vayikra speaks to the centrality of its teachings in the Israelite experience, especially as they pertained to the sacrificial cult practiced by the Israelites in the First and Second Temple periods.

Louis Finkelstein and the Conservative Movement: Conflict and Growth

Oct 27, 2011 By Michael B. Greenbaum | Public Event audio

Rabbi Michael B. Greenbaum, vice chancellor and chief operating officer of JTS, discussed his recently republished book, Louis Finkelstein and the Conservative Movement: Conflict and Growth (JTS Press, May 2009), a history of the Conservative Movement and and a case study of mission conflict through an exploration of Finkelstein’s presidency of JTS between 1940 and 1955.

The Sacred Cluster

Jan 10, 1995 By Ismar Schorsch

The Core Values of Conservative Judaism

If dogmas or doctrines are the propositional language of a theological system, core values are the felt commitments of lived religion, the refraction of what people practice and profess. To identify them calls for keen observation as well as theoretical analysis. Conservative Judaism is best understood as a sacred cluster of core values. No single propositional statement comes close to identifying its center of gravity. Nor does Conservative Judaism occupy the center of the contemporary religious spectrum because it is an arbitrary and facile composite of what may be found on the left or the right. On the contrary, its location flows from an organic and coherent world view best captured in terms of core values of relatively equal worth.

JTS’s Eternal Light

Jun 11, 2005 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

Forty-five years ago my marriage to my wife Sally coincided with the weekly Torah portion of Beha’alotekha, “When you (Aaron) mount the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lampstand” (Numbers 8:2).