To the Editor:
ROBERTA Rosenthal Kwall makes a strong case for preserving the traditions of the Conservative movement through restricting its membership (“Saving Conservative Judaism,” April). Based on my experience, however, I would like to suggest the opposite approach.
Professor Kwall’s conclusion that closing off Conservative synagogues to intermarried couples will strengthen the movement presumes that an intermarried couple’s observance of traditional Judaism only flows in one, increasingly liberal, direction. It assumes that once the decision to intermarry occurs, the slide toward a more liberal observance of Judaism becomes all but inevitable. The Brandeis study she cites supports this conclusion, but the article’s proposed solution probably assures it.
I grew up in a Reform congregation in Atlanta, albeit one led by a rabbi with a strong predisposition to traditional Judaism. Though I became generally non-practicing after leaving home, both my Catholic wife and I felt a strong pull to reorient ourselves toward the religions in which we were raised, and we thus started to seriously consider how we wanted to fit religion into our lives.
While we started out in the Reform congregation of the rabbi who married us (we also had a liberal Catholic priest), we found that a welcoming Conservative congregation offered services more similar to the ones I attended growing up. It also felt more distinguishable in its “Jewishness” to both my wife and me. It is correct to acknowledge, as Professor Kwall does, that Conservative services generally “are less accessible to non-Jews than Reform services given their length and the amount of Hebrew.” A welcoming Conservative synagogue, however, along with a supportive and curious non-Jewish spouse open to learning can alternatively offer an experience that strengthens the ties between intermarried Jews and traditional Jewish life. Indeed it has for us.
By joining a Conservative synagogue, we found a community that better highlighted the uniqueness of Jewish traditions, allowing me to reacquaint myself with these practices and allowing my wife to share in their richness for the first time. As a result, we have found a new place for traditional Judaism and its observance in our lives, something that would not have occurred had we not found a welcoming Conservative congregation.
By proposing to close off Conservative congregations to intermarried Jews, Professor Kwall’s approach would probably continue to accelerate the trend towards the liberalization of American Jews generally.
Aaron Cooper
Chicago, Illinois
To the Editor:
IN READING Roberta Rosenthal Kwall’s article, it occurred to me that leading scholars of Conservative Judaism, such as Rabbis David Weiss Halivni, David Feldman, and David Novak, have left the movement. And alumni of the Ramah camps, uncomfortable in the changing Conservative scene, often gravitate to modern Orthodox communities.
The symposium on the State of Jewish Belief, published by Commentary in August 1966, is highly relevant to the current discussion regarding the plight of Conservative Judaism. In his introduction to the symposium, which examined the beliefs of some 55 rabbis, Milton Himmelfarb wrote, “Cover the identification of the non-Orthodox, and what they write will not usually give you a clue to a Reform or a Conservative affiliation.”
Theologically they are virtually identical. Since then, the actual practices of the two movements have become more and more similar and the differences minimized, which will logically result in the merging of the two movements. This would be an ironic departure from Solomon Schechter’s dream.
Shimon Glick
Beer Sheva, Israel
Roberta Rosenthal Kwall writes:
BOTH AARON Cooper and Shimon Glick articulate opposing views to my article and both writers also overlook some fundamental aspects of the piece. I was heartened to hear of Mr. Cooper’s experience at a Conservative synagogue in Chicago (incidentally, Mr. Cooper was one of my law students several years ago). But I was not proposing that Conservative synagogues “close themselves off” from non-Jewish spouses. There is a difference between being welcoming to an interfaith couple and erasing any distinction from a ritual perspective between those individuals who are Jews and those who are not. Of course Conservative synagogues should be welcoming to everyone who enters the doors. But the goal for Conservative synagogues should be to educate non-Jewish spouses and significant others about the beauty of Jewish tradition. A fundamental part of this education must include conveying an understanding of why conversion and formal “membership” matter and make a difference in the lives of the couple and their future offspring. Recently, a close Catholic friend of mine started taking her 8-year-old daughter to services at a liberal Catholic church. But her daughter is upset because she cannot receive communion as she has not yet received the necessary sacraments. The solution? Her daughter can receive the necessary sacraments after she completes a one-year process of instruction and initiation. This process essentially entails a conversion. Conservative Judaism, which still claims to take tradition seriously, should operate no differently.
As for Mr. Glick, he overlooks the article’s most global point: “It is not too late for the Conservative movement to right its direction.” It is true that some leading scholars have exited the movement over the years, but others, such as Joel Roth, remained and have left a strong influence among rabbinical students. Equally true, some alumni of Camp Ramah and other Conservative venues have moved further to the right, but other serious Jews stayed in the movement and continued to embrace the core norms the article discusses. As for theology, it is also the case that some people affiliated with Orthodoxy maintain a belief system closer to the more progressive movements than the Orthodox party line. Judaism has long been characterized as a religion of action. Hence, my belief that a more affirmative embrace of tradition is what will save the movement in the long run.