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Last update - 00:00 23/11/2006
The end of the Conservative movement?
By Yair Sheleg

Next week the Conservative Movement in Israel will hold a series of festive events - the first will be the laying of the cornerstone for the new Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, followed by the awarding of the Liebhaber Prize for Religious Tolerance, which is marking a decade since its inception. After the festivities are over, however, the world Conservative movement, and especially its American center, will have to contend with the gloomy reality: the decline of its standing among American Jews, and serious disputes within the movement, to the point of the real possibility of a split.

The heart of the crisis in the movement is the issue of its attitude toward homosexuals and lesbians. It would be difficult to find any other subject that illustrates so clearly the gap between the liberal conception, which views same-sex couples as complete equals with heterosexual couples, and the halakhic conception, which has an absolutely negative attitude toward homosexuals. It is no wonder that this issue has touched the Conservative movement, which considers itself both halakhic and liberal, attuned to the times, in its most sensitive spot.

Next month the Conservative movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards in the United States is due to rule on two petitions submitted to it on this issue: One would allow declared homosexuals and lesbians to be ordained and serve as rabbis within the movement; the other would permit the movement's rabbis to conduct "commitment ceremonies" for same-sex couples (at this stage even the liberal elements within the movement are not mentioning genuine marriage ceremonies). The committee has also received petitions asking it to explicitly forbid the training of homosexual rabbis and the holding of commitment ceremonies.
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The contradictory petitions are splitting the movement from within. The confoundment is even greater due to the procedural rules governing the committee: a consensus of 25 percent (6 out of 25) of the committee's membership is enough to approve a certain policy, and thus for the Conservative community to be able to adopt it. This could create a situation in which the final decision rests with each individual community.

A senior source explains that he opposes both petitions, not only because of his stance on the issue itself, but also because of the long-term implications of the adoption of the petitions.

"If the movement recognizes homosexuals, it will lose its halakhic character completely," says the source. "In that case, we will also have to concede our position that we do not recognize as Jewish a person whose father is Jewish but whose mother is not [on the assumption that after a halakhic concession on the homosexual issue, the movement will find it difficult to insist on any halakhic position on any other issues, Y.S.], and then there will really be no difference between us and Reform [Jews]."

The source believes that if the liberal policy changes are accepted, the movement will undergo a split far worse than the crisis that plagued the movement in 1983, when the rabbinical ordination of women was first approved, but when only a few rabbis actually left.

"I predict that there will not only be a split in the movement, but that the whole movement will eventually disintegrate," continued the source. "I am very worried that following such a decision, there will be no more Conservative movement."

Female Rabbi Einat Ramon, dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Israel, who also opposes the two petitions, explains why the above "senior source" wants to remain anonymous.

"This issue involves an element of pure intellectual totalitarianism," says Ramon. "People are afraid to openly voice opposition to the initiatives, for fear they will immediately be labeled 'benighted.' That is the main reason for the split being inevitable, as well as due to the contempt that the liberals are displaying toward the conservatives. Perhaps this is the best thing for the movement. We simply cannot continue this way."

Prof. Arnold Eisen, on the other hand, the new chancellor of the Conservative movement's Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York, feels that even the approval of the status of homosexuals will not cause a split, "on the assumption that the decision is made with the necessary halakhic seriousness."

"If the ruling is worded neutrally," explains Eisen, "that, 'there is no problem with approving the petition because we believe in freedom,' this would create a problem. But if the answer is derived from a deep halakhic discussion, even most of the objectors will be able to live with it."

Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, former chancellor of the JTS, who retired last summer after 20 years at the helm, foresees long-term changes affecting all the streams of Judaism. Schorsch predicts that the liberal branch of the Conservative movement (the groups demanding rights for homosexuals) will eventually join the Reform movement, while the conservative branch of the movement will join modern-Orthodox groups, which are also experiencing growing conflicts with the conservatives (more religious) in their own ranks.

There will still be three streams, but their composition will be different: The conservative Orthodox will be on one side, the Reforms and liberals on the other, and a collection of modern Orthodox and conservative Conservatives in the middle.
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  1.   Prophets of Doom 13:01  |  Michael A. Shoemaker 23/11/06
  2.   Halakhic attitude toward homosexuals 13:20  |  Binyamin Dissen 23/11/06
  3.   Addition to #2 14:40  |  David S 23/11/06
  4.   Sad Reality 16:32  |  Asher 23/11/06
  5.   Michael A. Shoemaker (Post No. 1) 19:17  |  Johnny Weintraub 23/11/06
  6.   GLBT Jews & Conservative Movement 19:35  |  Holly 23/11/06
  7.   End of the Conservative Movement 20:18  |  Chaim 23/11/06
  8.   Conservative Moment 21:10  |  Larry 23/11/06
  9.   True Nature (from Chaim`s Post) 21:42  |  Mordechai 23/11/06
  10.   Shalom Chaim! 21:57  |  Holly 23/11/06
  11.   Shalom Larry! 21:59  |  Holly 23/11/06
  12.   Conservative conservatives 22:42  |  Joe 23/11/06
  13.   Homosexuality and Judaism 22:49  |  Joe 23/11/06
  14.   Conservative Judaism can have BOTH human rights AND halakha 22:51  |  AV 23/11/06
  15.   Start a new movement 23:04  |  Efox 23/11/06
  16.   Conservative movement 23:32  |  MR 23/11/06
  17.   What is Conservative? To # 8 00:50  |  David 24/11/06
  18.   Halakha is more flexible about homosexuality than many think 02:06  |  AV 24/11/06
  19.   It`s all interpretation 02:52  |  Rob 24/11/06
  20.   AV is talking nonesence 03:54  |  gabriel 24/11/06
  21.   Conservative Movement Split 04:04  |  Joseph 24/11/06
  22.   "Spilling seed" isnt a serious prohibition. 05:39  |  Yaakov 24/11/06
  23.   The Tora doesnt forbid "spilling seed" 05:58  |  AV 24/11/06
  24.   Wrong translation! 06:09  |  AV 24/11/06
  25.   MODERN ORTHODOX WILL NOT JOIN WITH CONSERVATIVE SO CALLED JUDAISM 18:07  |  DAN ROSENTHAL 24/11/06
  26.   To post 10 19:18  |  Chaim 24/11/06
  27.   Holly 19:29  |  Larry 24/11/06
  28.   to av 23:54  |  Chaim 24/11/06
  29.   post 14 shochev zachav 23:58  |  chaim 24/11/06
  30.   Just don`t get it... 19:05  |  B 25/11/06
  31.   AV`s dirty mind, mouth, etc. 22:41  |  DMO 25/11/06
  32.   Who is obsessed with sex? 03:59  |  AV 26/11/06
  33.   AV: A source woul dbe appreciated 04:36  |  Chaeem 26/11/06
  34.   The Hebrew word *shokhev* means "sexually penetrate" 04:36  |  AV 26/11/06
  35.   God instills homosexuality in humans. 04:46  |  AV 26/11/06
  36.   Av, your conversion is invalid 07:08  |  Harry 26/11/06
  37.   As a gay man i reject the Torah 09:59  |  SJ 26/11/06
  38.   Rumors of Jews` Demise Premature 14:30  |  Shmuel Ben Gedalyah 26/11/06
  39.   Why Should the movement survive? 15:23  |  Dov 27/11/06
  40.   on driving 17:54  |  justayid 27/11/06
  41.   Drviving continued 17:56  |  justayid 27/11/06
  42.   hebrew translation 19:53  |  chaim 27/11/06
  43.   the loss of conservative Conservatives 21:33  |  David 27/11/06
  44.   David, this movement already exists #43 22:53  |  Yaakov Sullivan 27/11/06
  45.   #15 is on drugs. 23:07  |  david 27/11/06
  46.   Conservative Judaism IS NOT HALACHA 23:30  |  Harry 27/11/06
  47.   Conservative Conservative doesn`t mean homophobic 23:32  |  Morahanne 27/11/06
  48.   "Homosexual" is a modern term: it didnt exist in the ancient Tora 00:26  |  AV 28/11/06
  49.   To AV 00:56  |  E.D. 28/11/06
  50.   To M 01:36  |  To MORAH 28/11/06
  51.   To MORAH 01:37  |  Harry 28/11/06
  52.   "Wasting seed" isnt serious. 02:32  |  AV 28/11/06
  53.   Get out of Palestine now 02:56  |  Amin Nusseibeh 28/11/06
  54.   Amin #52 - Get out of the U.K. 04:07  |  Dalton 28/11/06
  55.   Holly , is GLBT a snadwich ? 04:25  |  Grilled 28/11/06
  56.   Muslims stole the Land of Israel from Jews! Muslims get out now! 04:30  |  AV 28/11/06
  57.   AV, Who is your "Rabbi" and who did your CONVERSION 04:30  |  Harry 28/11/06
  58.   To Harry 10:57  |  AV 28/11/06
  59.   To Post #12 - Cons. Cons.`s and MO 22:25  |  Benjamin E. 28/11/06
  60.   Non reform branches never held the right to exist from day one. 23:40  |  Michael 11/12/06
  61.   Efox, take a chill. 00:01  |  Michael 12/12/06
  62.   study the chart and weep 05:47  |  AK 20/11/07
  63.   This Issue is the Essence of the Problem 10:00  |  ARTH 20/11/07
  64.   To #49 15:09  |  Ezra 20/11/07
  65.   Can so survive a split.. 22:58  |  Michael Greenberg 20/11/07
  66.   A questionto Joe 05:39  |  Otto Rand 21/11/07
  67.   confused kids with the Jewish education of...... 15:40  |  a voice 09/08/09
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