“Conservative Judaism ”

Conservative Judaism: The State of Conservative Judaism Today

Article on the status of Conservative Judaism in America... read article

History of Conservative Judaism

The history of the development and practice of Conservative Judaism... read article

Conservative Judaism: 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... read article

Conservative Judaism: Background & Overview

Background overview of Conservative Judaism... read article

Judaism: Judaism and Evolution

An explanation of Judaism's views on evolution... read article

William S. Malev

MALEV, WILLIAM S. (1898–1973), U.S. Conservative rabbi. Malev was born in Homel, Russia, and immigrated to the United States in 1908. He received his B.A. from the City College of New York in 1919; as a student at the Teachers Institute, and president of the Jewish Teachers Association (1921–22), he was persuaded by Mordecai *Kaplan to enter the rabbinate and was ordained at the *Jewish Theological Seminary in 1925... read article

Rabbinical Assembly

RABBINICAL ASSEMBLY (RA), the international association of Conservative rabbis. The Rabbinical Assembly was founded in Philadelphia in June 1901, as the Alumni Association of the Jewish Theological Seminary, with Rabbi Henry M. Speaker as its first president. The name was changed to the Rabbinical Assembly in 1918, when graduates of other institutions were admitted as members... read article

Conservative Judaism: The Rabbinical Assembly

The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The Rabbinical Assembly was founded in Philadelphia in June 1901, as the Alumni Association of the Jewish Theological Seminary, with Rabbi Henry M. Speaker as its first president. The name was changed to the Rabbinical Assembly in 1918, when graduates of other institutions were admitted as members... read article

Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, The

SCHECHTER INSTITUTE OF JEWISH STUDIES, THE (Machon Schechter L'mada'ey Hayahadut). The institute was founded in Jerusalem in 1984 as the Seminary of Judaic Studies (Bet Hamidrash L'limudey Hayahadut) to train Conservative rabbis for the Masorti Movement in Israel. It was viewed as the spiritual heir of the *Breslau Rabbinical Seminary (1854–1939) and the *Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS; 1887ff.). It was founded by JTS under the leadership of Chancellor Gershon *Cohen and Vice Chancellor Simon *Greenberg, and by the Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel represented by Prof... read article

Conservative Judaism: The United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism

The following passage was adapted from "The First Seventy-Five Years" by Dr. Ruth B. Waxman, found in the United Synagogue Biennial Report, 1987-1989. It was on Sunday February 23, 1913 at 531 West 123rd Street in New York, that Dr. Solomon Schechter raised a call for unity and foresaw a United Synagogue that would encompass the entire continent. Dr... read article

Union of Reform Judaism

UNION OF REFORM JUDAISM (formerly the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC)), association of the more than 900 Reform and Liberal congregations of the U.S. and Canada, representing some 1.5 million Jews, with headquarters in New York. Founded in 1873 as the first nationwide cooperative organization of Jewish congregations – after 32 years of unsuccessful efforts to establish a semblance of unity among U.S. Jewish communities – the UAHC's first goal was to coordinate support for the establishment of a seminary for the training of rabbis... read article

Reform Judaism: Union of Reform Judaism

The Union of Reform Judaism (formerly the Union of American Hebrew Congregations) is an association of the more than 900 Reform and Liberal congregations of the U.S. and Canada, representing some 1.5 million Jews, with headquarters in New York. Founded in 1873 as the first nationwide cooperative organization of Jewish congregations – after 32 years of unsuccessful efforts to establish a semblance of unity among U.S. Jewish communities – the UAHC's first goal was to coordinate support for the establishment of a seminary for the training of rabbis... read article

Cemetery

In Hebrew a cemetery is variously termed as bet kevarot ("place of the sepulchers"; Neh. 2:3, Sanh. 6:5); bet olam ("house of eternity"; see Eccles. 12:5) or its Aramaic form bet almin (Eccles. R. 10:9, Targ. Isa. 40:11, TJ, MK 80b); bet mo'ed le-khol ḥai ("the house appointed for all living"; Job 30:23); or euphemistically bet ḥayyim ("house of the living")... read article

Jewish Theological Seminary

JEWISH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY (JTS). JTS is the primary educational and religious center of *Conservative Judaism and a leading institution for the academic study of Judaism. With its main campus in New York City, JTS is currently comprised of a rabbinical school, a cantorial school, a graduate school of Jewish Studies, a graduate school of Jewish Education, an undergraduate school, a supplemental religious high school, and several research institutes. It houses a world-class Judaica library on campus; its museum, now called the *Jewish Museum, occupies another Manhattan site... read article

Reports on Religious Freedom: Israel

Executive Summary The country’s laws and policies provide for religious freedom and the government generally respected religious freedom in practice; however, there were reports of government actions that affected religious freedom... read article

American Jewish Family

IntroductionAny discussion of American Jewish family life as an institution must view it within the context of contemporary American social, economic, and political life. All contemporary American Jews are "Jews by choice" in that their relationship with the Jewish people, Judaism, and its institutions is voluntary. They have freedom and feel part of mainstream American life.The experience of the Jewish family in the United States over the past century has been one of acculturation and accommodation to the norms and values of American society. The diversity within Jewish life precludes a description of an archetypal contemporary American Jewish family... read article

Jews in America: The Jewish American Family

Introduction Any discussion of American Jewish family life as an institution must view it within the context of contemporary American social, economic, and political life. All contemporary American Jews are "Jews by choice" in that their relationship with the Jewish people, Judaism, and its institutions is voluntary. They have freedom and feel part of mainstream American life... read article

Reform Judaism: History & Overview

A history and description of the Reform movement in Judaism... read article

Judaism: Conservative Judaism

List of articles and links related to Conservative Judaism... read article

Joel Geffen

GEFFEN, JOEL (1902–1988), U.S. Conservative rabbi. Born into a distinguished rabbinic family (his father was Tobias *Geffen) in Kovno, Lithuania, Geffen came to the United States when he was a year old, where he was raised in Atlanta. He graduated from Emory University in 1944 and was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary four years later. His first pulpit was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he organized the congregation of 200 families. In 1929 he moved to Temple Beth El in Troy, New York, where he again built the congregation and organized a community talmud torah along with adult education and youth groups... read article