Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Conservative Judaism, one of the three major streams of U.S. Judaism. Conservative Jews are generally more observant than Reform Jews but less so than Orthodox Jews. The movement is led by the…
Conservative Judaism
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Israel News Israel Will Not Recognize Uganda ‘Jews’
After years of deliberations, the Israeli Interior Ministry has resolved not to grant recognition to the Jewish community of Uganda, Haaretz has learned. Its decision was revealed in a response to the first and only request thus far by a member of the 2,000-strong Ugandan Abayudaya community, who sought to immigrate to Israel under the…
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News Conservative Judaism’s Leader Departs To Mixed Reviews At Fraught Time
When Rabbi Steven Wernick interviewed to be chief executive of the Conservative movement’s umbrella organization in 2009, he came prepared and had “done his homework,” according to a former board officer who was present. He was then head rabbi of a synagogue in Philadelphia’s wealthy Main Line suburb. Board members were particularly impressed by how…
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Community Why Are Conservative Jews Ignoring Our Own Intermarriage Rate?
Most non-profits try to avoid contested elections and just push through a nominating committee report. But sometimes there’s an issue that can’t be shoved aside, a philosophical dispute with the potential to clarify the institution’s mission and meaning. That seems to be the case this year at my professional association, the Rabbinical Assembly — the…
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Fast Forward Conservative Movement CEO Rabbi Steven Wernick Stepping Down
The umbrella group of Conservative Judaism announced Wednesday that its leader will be stepping down from his position. Rabbi Steven Wernick, who has served as CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism since 2009, will not seek a renewal of his contract when it expires in 2019, the movement announced on Wednesday. “We are…
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News EXCLUSIVE: Rabbis Who Favor Ban On Intermarriage Challenge Conservative Leaders
A group of rabbis who support the Conservative movement’s ban on intermarriage are mounting a highly unusual challenge to colleagues who have been hand-picked to assume the leadership of their professional body, the Rabbinical Assembly. The movement, a liberal denomination that adheres to Jewish law, bans intermarriage, but some of its rabbis bitterly oppose the…
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News First Woman To Lead An American Rabbinical Association Stepping Down
Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, who has lead the professional organization for Conservative Judaism’s rabbis since 2009, announced Friday morning that she would leave her post at the end of the year. In a letter to members of the Rabbinical Assembly, the chairman of the group’s board, Rabbi Philip Scheim, wrote that Schonfeld had informed the leadership…
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Fast Forward Conservative Rabbis Call On Israel To Admit Kenyan Convert
(JTA) — Conservative rabbis have called on Israel to allow a Kenyan convert to study at its yeshiva in Jerusalem. A visa application submitted by Yehudah Kimani last week was rejected by the country’s Interior Ministry. It is the second time that Kimani has been denied entrance to the country. “Kimani is a Jew, converted…
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News This Jewish Couple Overcame Infertility. Do Their Twins Have To Convert?
The Jewish parents of infant twin boys drove last summer from their home in the Washington, D.C., area to a summer camp in Pennsylvania to perform a conversion for their babies. It was a slightly embellished version of the traditional conversion ceremony: Since both boys were already circumcised, they simply recited a prayer, the Sh’ma,…
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Fast Forward Why neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the US
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Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
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Opinion Just about every interpretation of Trump’s narrow election victory is wrong
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News Texas schools want to add Queen Esther to the curriculum. Here’s why Jews (and many Christians) are opposed.
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