Re: What's wrong with Conservative Judaism


Steve Goldfarb wrote:
In <1156865876.445023.299270@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> "levin.jj@xxxxxxxxx" <levin.jj@xxxxxxxxx> writes:


Very enlightening. Thank you, Joel.

I met a Conservative rabbi last week, and we had a rather long chat.
From what I gathered, he is a very observant person. But my friends and
acquaintances, who are (or were) Conservative, never did anything
Jewish except go to shul on the High Holidays. The did not observe
kashrut or shabbat or any other precept, but they considered themselves
"Conservative" because they belonged to a C shul. That (and lavish
weddings and bar mitzvahs, and a passover seder) ) was the total sum of
their Jewishness. But their rabbi had to be observant.

That, I think, is one of the differences between R and C. I have gone
to restaurants with my R rabbi, and we both ate treif. If I met my
rabbi shopping on a Saturday afternoon, I'd say "hello". I do not, and
should not, demand more of my rabbi than I am willing to observe
myself. OTOH, I dobt that a C rabbi could go shopping on shabbat
afternoon, because if he were seen by a congregant, the shul board
would have a fit the next day. So for those C Jews I know (and this is
strictly anecdotal from my own observation), they would demand of their
rabbi a much higher level of observance that they themselves practice.

Since I see no reason to demand that my rabbi be my Jewish proxy,
Reform makes more sense (to me).

There's a brief discussion of this on volokh.com , in reference to the
Slate.com article. The blogger discusses the difficulties inherent in
supporting a middle-ground position, politically as well as religiously.
That is, many people are themselves moderate, but his point is it's hard
to develop a coherent ideology around moderation. It's much easier to be
extreme, for leaders, etc.

Regarding demanding of your rabbi, would you accept a rabbi who was less
observant than you?

I have.


Say, an atheist or something? If not, then doesn't the
rabbi have to be at least as observant as the most observant person in the
congregation, rather than meeting some sort of average? That is, if the
rabbi is as observant as the average member of the congregation, then half
the congregation will be more observant than their rabbi.


See above. My congregation would have no problem with a more observant
rabbi.


I see your point, but I don't think it's hypocritical or whatever to
expect one's teacher to be more... what's the word, "living it" than I am.
I think the more-observant rabbi could serve as an example, not
necessarily as a proxy, which seems legit to me.

I agree. What I am saying is that the level of observance of the rabbi
does not matter to most R congregants. Three R rabbis whom I know, and
who were not totally observant (some observed some precepts), were
wonderful teachers. They taught us how to be mentschen, while being
proud, secular Jews.

Jay












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