Another Nail in the Coffin of Conservative Judaism

Yet another nail in the coffin of the Conservative Judaism was articulated by Jonathan Rosenblum and Eytan Kobre in last week’s issue of Mishpacha Magazine. 

Although Jonathan’s op-ed was about Kiruv, it clearly impacts what is happening to Conservative Judaism. (Reform Judaism has lost its claim to being a Jewish denomination by virtue of how they define being a Jew. And with 84% of Reform rabbis performing intermarriages, there is nothing to talk about - in my view.)

Jonathan lamented the fact that Kiruv of the type done by Rabbi Meir Schuster is no longer as viable as it once was.

Back in the latter part of the 20^th century – just after the 6 day war, there was an explosion of interest in Judaism by secular Jewish youth of that day. (I was barely 20 years old then.) But the 6 day war was only part of the reason. My generation was a lot more idealistic then  - than the youth of today are.

I say this not to brag about my generation. I say it because it’s true. Back in those days many a young person made it their mission in life to search for the eternal truths that would give meaning to their lives. And as such they would go to ‘the ends of the earth’  to try and find it. As Jonathan describes it: 

(M)any were backpacking around the world. They might have spent months sleeping on a mat on the floor in an Indian ashram, been robbed and abandoned by pirates in Thailand, or have dedicated themselves to learning various Buddhist chants in Nepal. They were in quest of new experiences — and the further from anything in their lives back home, the better. 

Part of that trek brought many of them to the Kotel in some sort of homage to their Jewish background. From there they would proceed to their various exotic destinations in their search.  It never occurred to them to examine their own heritage first. …that it might contain some truths as well. So that when they were approached by Rabbi Schuster and asked if they would be interested in a lecture on Jewish philosophy, they usually accepted realizing that before they firmly and finally reject their heritage in favor of another, it might be a good idea to find out more about it.

That is one very important reason (albeit not the only one) why Rabbi Schuster was so successful. The youth of my day actually cared about their spirituality and honest enough to realize - when they were reminded of it - just how ignorant they were about it.

Today, in most cases that kind of thinking doesn’t  exist anymore, Jonathan notes. Ask a typical Jewish 20-something if he would be interested in a lecture on Jewish philosophy he would probably say ‘no thank you - that he knows all he needs to know about Judaism.

Why did my generation care more about their Judaism? I agree with Jonathan that there is a correlation to the increased rate intermarriage in our day. Back then there it was rare for even secular Jews to approve of their children marrying out. Today it is no big deal at all.  

The idea of being Jewish is becoming  less of a factor in the lives of most of American Jewry. Which is why there 70% of non Orthodox Jewry intermarriage rate. ‘So what if you’re not Jewish?’ ‘Why should that mean anything?’ ‘Who cares about the archaic religion of your ancestors - whose values are contrary to the values of modern day man?’ ‘ Why even bother to identify as Jewish?’ ‘Who cares?’

 Studies have shown that if you ask the typical non Orthodox Jew if he ever visited Israel (let alone the Kotel) or ever plans to, most would probably say, no to both.

I see no remedy for this. It is one thing to say that Kiruv of thr type successfully done by Rabbi Schuister is not longer as viable as it once was. But it so too is the near impossibility of the Conservative Movements to reverse this trend.

It is not for a lack of their trying. It is just that many of their attempts are proving to be more futile than the type of  Kiruv done by Rabbi Schuster has become.  And they know it. Which is why they have recently pushed so hard to be recognized in Israel – seeing traditional Israelis that are not fully observant as a natural constituency. While they may not be fully observant, they nonetheless care about being Jewish. They  may see this as best – if not the only - way to salvage their movements.

In the very same issue of Mishpacha, Eytan Kobre (someone I often disagree with – sometimes vehemently) makes a similar observation with respect to heterodoxy. On this issue we completely agree. Eytan is not just some right wing Orthodox Jew gloating over the Conservative movement’s demise. That isn’t what his op-ed is about. It is about what Allan Arkush, a respected non observant Jewish Judaic Studies professor has concluded.

He notes that there are the two competing ideologies that determined to how America viewed itself culturally. In the early part of the 20^th century E Pluribus Unum  (out of many – one) was interpreted to mean that America is the great melting pot of assimilation where immigrants from all over the world came here to form one nation, one people with one common national identity distinct from that of their origin.

The latter part of the 20^th century and early part of the 21^st century saw a change in the  opposite direction.  One that interprets which the US motto as a unified nation of multi cultural immigrants that celebrates their ancestral heritage.

While that may be true for most ethnicities, Arkush concludes that it is not true for non observant American Jewry. They have followed the early 20^th century model of assimilation to the point of almost devaluing their Jewish heritage. Arkush notes that Orthodox Jews are the only segment of Jewry where this is not true.  Orthodox Jews have not succumbed to the melting pot ideal.

Arkush laments that fact. As do I - and anyone that cares about the entirety of the Jewish people. The loss of millions of Jews to assimilation and intermarriage is tragic. As is the feeble attempts by the Conservative movement to change course. Eytan notes that this perception is echoed by Jack Wertheimer, a Conservative Rabbi and Jewish thinker. 

I realize that many Conservative Jews might disagree. But I think they have a long way to go to justify that disagreement.

Sad as all this is for me, I don’t see any remedy. I see only the exodus of masses Jews from Judaism. And at this point all we can do is watch it happen as even the relatively small amount of Kiruv opportunities decrease.