2009
ISSUE 72 |
9
At the same time, perhaps half of the
couples joining Reform temples have a part-
ner who was not born Jewish, only a minority
of whom have converted to Judaism. Because
the Reform Movement attracts these people,
it has a population of congregants that, on av-
erage, is not highly educated in Jewish terms,
at least when compared with their Orthodox
or Conservative counterparts in the aggregate.
Not coincidentally, the Reform Move-
ment, its synagogues and rabbis, are often
blamed for serving as the primary home for ap-
parently ‘weak’ Jews in their midst. In response,
we can do a thought experiment and assume
that the Reform Movement decided to close
shop. What would happen to all these Jews,
particularly those who are intermarried, or had
weak childhood education in Judaism, or both
–
as is often the case? Certainly some would
join Conservative synagogues, but probably the
vast majority would not be attached to Jewish
life. And, notwithstanding the large number of
mixed-married and poorly educated Jews, over
the years the Movement’s official policies have
placed more emphasis on ritual practice, Jew-
ish learning, Zionism, prayer, and Hebrew,
trends embodied and exemplified by its newly
published siddur,
Mishkan T’filah
.
Reform rabbis, educators, and lay lead-
ers are thus engaging with and struggling to
engage with their population, some of whom
are among the most marginally involved in
conventional Jewish life. This struggle is to
their credit. Sometimes they succeed. On
other occasions they fail, as is manifest in the
large number of congregants who leave their
temples upon the
bar/bat mitzvah
of their
youngest child; perhaps about half do so.
Even more worrying, perhaps, are the large
numbers of children raised in Reform Ju-
daism who marry out, more by far than the
other two major Movements. But, with that
said, Reform is now the largest Jewish de-
nominational Movement in the United
States, holding steady in recent years, as the
number of non-Jewish Reform congregants
grow, while the number of Jewish Reform
congregants (be they born-Jews or converts to
Judaism) slowly decline over the long haul.
The Orthodox Struggle
with Klal Yisrael
All three major religious Movements are
standing at a crossroads. One major struggle
within Orthodoxy is over whether Orthodoxy
will remain part of the real
Am Yisrael
(
Jewish
People) in America – not the Jews they may
want, but the Jews we actually have. That
struggle translates into the question, ‘Can one
have common educational, intellectual, or
communal relationships, not only with non-
Orthodox Jews but also with non-Orthodox
rabbis? How does one maintain dialogue and
genuine collaboration with them?’
For many Orthodox, the break with
Jewish law as they understand it by Conser-
vative, Reform, and other non-Orthodox
Movements is too high a barrier to overcome.
The ordination of gay and lesbian rabbis is
one issue. Also the seeming acceptance of in-
termarriage and the incorporation of large
numbers of non-Jews into Jewish congrega-
tions deeply trouble Orthodox rabbis of all
persuasions.
The high rates of intermarriage, patrilin-
eal descent, and what they regard as
illegitimate conversions mean to many Or-
thodox parents that their children might
unknowingly marry what to them are non-
Jews, albeit those who were raised and
educated in Reform or Conservative congre-
gations. Significant numbers of Orthodox
Jews insulate their children not only from the
effects of the larger society, but from intimate
contact with non-Orthodox Jews.
Yet despite these tendencies, a number of
notable efforts seek to promote more open-
ness and engagement with all of Jewry. One
finds an internal struggle at Yeshiva Univer-
sity over which way the institution will go
under the leadership of Richard Joel as its
president, either in the direction of greater
sectarianism or greater engagement with all of
Jewry. The newly established Yeshivat
Chovevei Torah, headed by Rabbi Avi Weiss,
is producing rabbis committed to the unity of
the Jewish people.
Conservative Turnaround?
The population of the Conservative Move-
ment is shrinking. Reflecting trends that date
back to 1960 or so, there are probably twice
as many Conservative senior citizens as there
are Conservative children.
The newly emerging Conservative lead-
ership – both the recently installed and the
soon-to-be appointed – will be addressing the
critical demographic challenges of shrinkage
and aging. Any transition from great leaders
of the older generation to younger persons of
great talent raises hopes for change. With
Arnold Eisen as the Chancellor of the Jewish
Theological Seminary (JTS), there is a wide-
spread expectation of revival in the
movement, notwithstanding that JTS is just
one important element in the Conservative
institutional array.
Among major Conservative institutions,
JTS is not alone in the transition to a new and
younger leadership. In the three major
–
Reform is now the largest Jewish denominational
Movement in the United States, holding steady in
recent years, as the number of non-Jewish Reform
congregants grow, while the number of Jewish
Reform congregants (be they born-Jews or converts
to Judaism) slowly decline over the long haul.
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