TORONTO — Ten Canadian Conservative rabbis joined almost 300 of their colleagues at the annual Rabbinical Assembly convention in Las Vegas at the end of March to address perennial existential questions about the movement’s prospects.
Rabbi Philip Scheim
The agenda was dominated by the future of Conservative Judaism – what it is, where it’s headed, and how rabbis can get that message out to the world. But there was little of the grumbling by key Conservative synagogue leaders that reportedly prompted the development and release in February of a new strategic plan to restructure the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ).
Instead, there was energy, and even a little bravado, while criticism was tempered by concern about what lies ahead for what is now the second-largest North American denomination after Reform (although affiliated and non-affiliated Conservative shuls still predominate in Canada).
Rabbi Lionel Moses, spiritual leader of Montreal’s Shaare Zion Congregation, told The CJN after returning from the conference that the strategic plan “as it is right now, is more a series of objectives and ideals,” and that the next stage will involve transforming them into “a pragmatic plan.”
Rabbi Philip Scheim, of Toronto’s Beth David B’nai Israel Beth Am Synagogue, said that despite negative press and talk of a Conservative movement in decline, he left the convention impressed by the “charismatic” young leadership who are “committed to maintaining a meaningful presence in the world Jewish scene.”
But he noted that there is “a lot of uncertainty” about USCJ, which three Toronto synagogues left a couple of years ago. Beth David is still part of the Conservative synagogue umbrella group.
Rabbi Scheim believes that becoming unaffiliated would be a huge loss for youth in particular, because of United Synagogue Youth (USY), the movement’s youth arm. “That on its own justifies affiliation,” he said, referring to USY’s potentially “life-changing” role in formation of Jewish identity and development of leadership skills.
As well, he added, even if “you’re not getting direct return for your dollars… you [affiliate] because you believe in supporting an institution.” He likened it to belonging to a synagogue even though High Holiday tickets can be purchased without membership, and non-members can attend Shabbat services.
The convention featured formal discussions among the United Synagogue leadership and key figures among a group of about 50 rabbis who have been pushing for completely overhauling United Synagogue. They call themselves Hayom: Coalition for the Transformation of Conservative Judaism. The talks took place behind closed doors.
Rabbi Moses, whose synagogue left USCJ two years ago for economic reasons, believes that Conservative rabbis in Canada and the United States face “largely” the same issues.
Much of the talk at the convention focused on social networking, and promoting the idea of what Conservative Judaism offers, he said.
“The way we teach Torah is… progressive, and yet holds firm to the tradition.”
Rabbi Moses believes that there’s “a lot of energy” among Conservative rabbis and lay people, spanning a wide range of ages.
At the same time, he acknowledged, “We may not be as large as we once were. We may not appear to be as strong as we once were. But we are as committed to the type of Judaism that we have been teaching and practising for 100 years as we were when Solomon Schechter came to the United States.”
Although there are differences in practice among Conservative congregations, he said that “philosophically and ideologically, there’s tremendous agreement” among Conservative rabbis, whether they are from North or South America, Europe or Israel.
With files from JTA
