Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday December 7, 2007

Defining moment

Former Stanford professor invigorates Conservative biennial

by ben harris
jta

orlando | Delegates to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism biennial apparently didn’t expect much when former Stanford professor Arnold Eisen took the stage here last week, offering only tepid applause for the Jewish Theological Seminary chancellor.

Less than an hour later, however, the delegates were on their feet, cheering a Conservative leader who has wowed movement audiences frequently since he took the seminary helm this summer.

Eisen’s speech on the opening night of United Synagogue’s biennial convention set the tone for an event that featured an energy missing in previous years.

More than any other arm of Conservative Judaism, the United Synagogue has been roiled by the larger challenges bedeviling the movement — not just its declining membership rolls but the dilemmas posed by intermarriage, the difficulty of retaining youth and the seeming ossification of its message.

Not surprising, perhaps, the organization’s biennial convention hasn’t been distinguished by its dynamism — younger attendees at the Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 gathering joked about the advanced average age of its 400 or so delegates.

In his speech, Eisen delivered something the movement has been agitating for — a definition — as its position as the largest American denomination has been eclipsed by the Reform movement.

As is his inclination as a sociologist, Eisen offered no grand statements of theology but rather the comparatively simple suggestion that Conservative Judaism define itself by what Conservative Jews do.

“We are those Jews committed to full and authentic engagement with the Jewish people and the Jewish tradition, heart and soul and mind, as well as full engagement with the society and culture of which we are a part,” Eisen said.

For the most part, that definition is more aspirational than descriptive. Conservative Jews largely don’t live such lives, a point driven home in remarks the following evening by the United Synagogue’s executive vice president, Rabbi Jerome Epstein.

In a forceful address that surprised movement insiders with its directness, Epstein said Conservative Judaism was quite clear in its principles — it was Conservative Jews who were not living up to them.

“We don’t need more definitions of Conservative Judaism in order to make Conservative Judaism come alive,” Epstein said. “What we stand for is abundantly clear. What we do need is commitment on the part of Conservative Jews to live the definition.”

Despite the enthusiasm at the biennial, ample skepticism remains over how Eisen’s and Epstein’s objectives would be put into practice.

Raymond Goldstein, the organization’s international president, said he was doing his part to increase the level of Jewish practice in the movement by requiring those he named to leadership positions to commit to keeping kosher and observing the Sabbath, among other requirements.

One appointee, he said, had been forced to make his kitchen kosher before accepting a post.

Though a marked shift in emphasis from the 2005 address, when Epstein urged greater outreach to intermarried couples on the margins of the movement, Epstein’s remarks generally were well received by the synagogue lay leaders and professionals in attendance. But it was Eisen who stole the show.

Over the past year, Eisen has emerged as the movement’s indisputable leader and the repository for its hopes of reversing the decline.

In April, at the annual gathering of the movement’s rabbinical association, the Rabbinical Assembly, Eisen earned a similarly enthusiastic response as he laid out his assessment of where Conservative Judaism had come up short and outlined his plans for the coming year.

Last week, in his first address to leaders of the movement’s congregational arm, Eisen laid out in plain language 10 principles that should guide Conservative Judaism. Among them: learning Torah, building strong communities, tikkun olam, commitment to Israel and Hebrew literacy.

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.