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To Conservative . . .

In the late nineteenth century, there was a large increase in the Jewish population in the United States as a result of immigration from Russia and Eastern Europe. Not all of these Jewish immigrants were happy or comfortable with the Reform movement. Eventually, a schism occurred between the more traditional and the more “radical” leaders, and in the early twentieth century, this breakup led eventually to the Conservative movement in Judaism. The United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism estimates that today there are approximately eight hundred affiliated Conservative congregations representing some one and a half million members.

Conservative Judaism represents a mix of both traditional and more modern views. It accommodates the needs of Jewish life in contemporary society but at the same time accepts the divine inspiration of the law of the Torah. For example, it’s okay to drive to the synagogue. This is because of the difference in lifestyles in the United States versus the traditional small Eastern European Jewish communities of a hundred or more years ago. Today, the need to get to the synagogue on Shabbat from a distance too far to walk overrides the prohibition of “lighting a fire” (starting the car ignition).

The emphasis of Conservative belief lies between the Reform and the Orthodox. Personal decisions are based not as much on individual conscience as on the accepted practice of the Jewish community, the ritual committees within each congregation, and the guidance of Jewish scholarship through the ages. Conservative Judaism thus tends to be more traditional than Reform Judaism in its services, practices, and beliefs. However, some Conservative congregations appear more “reform” than some Reform congregations and vice versa, and it is not uncommon to find many Conservative congregants quite orthodox in their religious behavior and practices. In addition, clergy members who have trained and graduated from Conservative seminaries sometimes serve in Reform Congregations, and vice versa.