Source: “Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors to Our Descendants” by Elliott N. Dorff
Philosophically, Conservative Jews study Judaism historically. This means that Judaism is understood to be “influenced and changed by the various people and ideas with which Jews came into contact and the political, social, and economic conditions under which Jews lived.”
At the same time, “we still call our patterns of behavior and thought ‘Judaism’ because our form of Judaism has much in common with the various types of Judaism that existed before and that exist elsewhere and because we can trace the gradual process by which Judaism changed in form and even sometimes in content from Moses to our own day."
Conservative Jews believe that “Judaism should change from one time and place to another. The simple fact is that the world does not stand still, and consequently all living organisms must learn to live under new circumstances if they are going to survive.”
So how does Conservative Judaism decide what to keep and what to change?
In short, Conservative Jews turn to the community. “There is no guarantee that the community or its representatives will be any wiser than an individual, but at least then we will be drawing upon the collective wisdom of the people involved. Moreover, that method has preserved Judaism until now.”
Who constitutes the community? In short, the community equals an interaction between the rabbis, who are knowledgeable about the legal tradition, and the community of “Jews who try to observe Jewish law.” For “Those who are not observant may still be Jews, but their own choice to neglect the laws of Judaism excludes them from consideration when we want to know the minhag” (custom).
Modern Conservative Judaism is sensitive to the fact that there may not be one Judaism for the entire community – but that “there may well be several separate understandings of proper Jewish observance among the various communities of observant Jews.”
Dorff adds: "Deciding when such additions or modifications are necessary, and how they should be made, requires considerable judgment and risk, and consequently the Conservative Movement has made the decision a communal matter for both rabbis and laymen. Rabbis may refer questions to the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly. If that Committee rules unanimously on a given issue, the decision becomes a binding practice for the Conservative Movement....If the Committee splits in its vote, then a Conservative rabbi may follow either the majority or the minority opinion, depending upon which best fits the needs and circumstances of his own congregation and which coincides with his own understanding of Jewish law.
"This structure is a combination of the two traditional ways in which Jewish legal decisions were made - namely, by majority vote of a central body, when a given Jewish community was sufficiently organized to have a body, and/or by the decision of the local rabbi (the' 'mara d 'atra," or "teacher of the community"). This structure also explains why you probably have observed considerable differences in the practices of Conservative synagogues and rabbis. It is important to realize that these differences do not represent a lack of decisiveness or commitment on the part of the Movement; they rather reflect the fact that the Conservative Movement wants to deal with life as it actually is, and that requires that it be open to differences among people and communities. This plurality may make some of us uncomfortable at times, but life does not lend itself to a neat, unchanging structure, and so people must learn to accept changes in law without at the same time discarding it completely. This is the approach of Jewish law historically, and it is the approach of the Conservative Movement."
Conservative Judaism: What Jewish traditions to keep and what to change
Torah observance - what is the best way?
Conservative Judaism used to be the most popular Jewish denomination in America. Now, it has waned significantly. According to the Jewish Journal, "The Conservative movement has been losing members in droves over the last two decades: It went from claiming 40 percent of American Jewish households in 1990 to 33 percent by 2000, according to the National Jewish Population Survey 2000-01." (I don't have more recent numbers)
Now the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the Conservative rabbinical school, has a new chancellor (as of September 2007) who is setting out to renew Conservative Judaism. But as the Jewish Journal notes (OK this was 2005, maybe things have changed a bit since then), "Numerous Jewish startup communities...don’t even take the Conservative label, despite their similarities to the movement, namely, a focus on egalitarianism, an evolving halacha and an adherence to tradition."
There is a dichotomy between the stated beliefs of Conservative Judaism and its practice by actual people. Theoretically, Conservative Judaism argues for Jews to "conserve" the law -- to keep the Torah. As Dorff writes here:
Yet in real life, Conservative Jews are "known" (perhaps this is only a reputation?) to be non-observant. Certainly their intermarriage rate is high: 32% according to the National Jewish Population Survey.
So what is the problem with Conservative Judaism? My take on it is that groups tend to go to the lowest common denominator -- and Conservative Judaism, though in theory it sounds good ("tradition + change"), created an opening for people to throw off observance and still call themselves religious.
Similarly, Orthodox Judaism has its own lowest common denominator--people who are technically observant but who are spiritually distant from a sense of achdut (brotherhood/sisterhood) with the Jewish community--judgmental and self-satisfied.
Then there is Reform Judaism, which has its own lowest common denominator--a sense that "anything goes" and can still be called Jewish. I don't think this is what Reform preaches, but it is what people practice.
What is the answer for those who want to be Jewish and still participate in the mainstream of secular life? There is "modern Orthodoxy," which seeks to blend the best of both worlds...integrating solid Jewish observance with participation in the "real world." I recall growing up in a "normal" modern Orthodox community, where there was no distinction between being a good Jew and a "regular" American. However, nowadays the Orthodox community has shifted rightward, and standard modern Orthodoxy is in short supply.
I think the answer is somewhere in between Conservative Judaism and modern Orthodoxy. I certainly would like to learn more about both practices; in fact I'd like to celebrate the best of Conservative, Orthodox, and Reform Judaism and synthesize them into one integrated whole that makes sense -- that could unify the Jewish community around true service to G-d.
Judaism and Free Will
In a speech called "Free Will--The Real You," Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz talks about the Jewish concept of morality and how we are held accountable for our choices. Essentially what he says is that a person is held responsible for their moral decisions at the level where they stand--no higher and no lower.
What that means is that everybody is understood to inhabit a certain spiritual level. They would not normally do things that are either "beneath" them or too spiritually elevated for them. Therefore, they would not get rewarded for not doing something beneath them, nor would they be punished for not doing something above their level. But they are held accountable for moral decisions which are at their level of understanding.
Tatz gives the example of a mugger, who has grown up and spent all his life mugging little old ladies. The mugger sees a little old lady crossing his path, and next to her on the ground is a half a brick. It is "expected" that the mugger will do what he has always done, and mug the lady. For that he incurs no special spiritual punishment. (Of course, on earth, in a Jewish or any court of law, he would be punished and held accountable for mugging her. This is necessary so that society can function.) But in heaven, he is spiritually accountable for his real choice--whether he will simply take her purse, or hit her on the head with the brick first and knock her unconscious, then take the purse. If he resists the temptation to hit her on the head with the brick, that is considered a spiritual victory. Conversely, if he hits her with the brick, he is punished, because he could have chosen not to.
What this means for us is great hope, for we are not measured against some abstract spiritual ideal. Rather, we are only measured against ourselves. We all have the capacity to grow spiritually, from whatever level we stand at today. So there is no excuse for failing to try--no matter how low we may feel our level is or how trivial our moral choices may seem.
Why and How Should We Observe the Torah? Judaism and Revelation
- If the entire Torah (written and oral law) was transmitted by G-d at Sinai, without human intervention, then we are theoretically obligated to keep every thing in it, with no change except to extend the law to apply to new situations. Moreover, the ability to criticize the text is limited because it is all Divine.
- If there was human intervention of any kind, the possibility exists that we can change our observance of the Torah more liberally, to keep pace with the historical times and with the culture of the Jewish community. Moreover, we can criticize the text more liberally because there is a human factor involved.
To me, the whole issue of whether Revelation is Divine or had a human hand is irrelevant because:
- We will never know what happened at Sinai, so any position one takes is a matter of faith. And however you understand what happened—whether G-d transmitted the Torah Himself (Orthodox) or Moses wrote it down (Conservative) or the Jewish people wrote it with divine inspiration (Reform)—it is all from G-d not man.
- The Torah was transmitted at a certain place and time in history, and we are living in another place and time. Therefore, its principles have to be translated into our historical context in order for us to observe them. There is no way to keep it all “unchanged.”
How to be happy - a Jewish perspective
Note: In a speech called “Happiness,” downloadable for free at http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/Rabbi_Akiva_Tatz.html, Dr. Rabbi Akiva Tatz talks about the Jewish concept of happiness. What follows are some very brief highlights of that talk, with some commentary.
According to Dr. Rabbi Akiva Tatz, “The correct understanding is that happiness is the experience of the soul to doing what it should be doing….When you’re doing what you should be doing, the response is happiness.”
What this means is that genuine happiness is “a response to a situation of growth and development. When you’re moving along the road to the correct goal, you will be happy. It has nothing to do with whether the road is easy or difficult and it has nothing to do with the expression on your face. On the contrary, when the expression on your face is perhaps the most contorted with pain and effort, some of those experiences are the most happy experiences that could be.”
Conversely, “real sadness is when you don’t know which road you’re supposed to be on. Everybody may be giggling around you, and you may be in the lap of luxury, but if you’re not moving along the road you need to be moving along and time is ticking by, your neshama (soul) will become depressed.”
Tatz goes on to say that “Growth is always made against resistance. When you’re walking along the right road, you relish the journey. Even though the journey may be painful. There’s a happiness there.”
In reality, there is no commandment to be happy. Nevertheless, “when you serve HaShem (G-d) the way you have to serve Him, the result is simcha (happiness)….When you’re walking along the right road to the right destination, your heart will be singing within you.”
Tatz explains the Jewish imploration “Ivdu es HaShem besimcha,” or “serve HaShem in happiness.” What it really means, he says, is “serve, and you’ll be happy.”
The Torah states elsewhere that the Jews would be punished if they “did not serve HaShem in happiness.” What that means, Tatz says, is not that the Jews should have been happy. It means that they should have served G-d in happiness. “They’re being punished for not serving HaShem in happiness. That’s the important word (serving).”
I have a slightly different interpretation. I take the punishment to mean that true service to G-d necessarily makes one happy. If you serve G-d but are unhappy doing so, then your service is not correct and G-d will redirect ("punish") you until you find the right path.
On the other side, Tatz makes another point, about depression (not chemical depression, but functional depression, he clarifies). “Depression is rooted in the feeling of death. What if a person lived through a year in which they did nothing? It’s death. It’s a year of death. How would you feel if you’re walking on a road and you’re going around in circles. You feel the tremendous pain of all the work that’s put in and it didn’t get you anywhere.”
Tatz adds a key point: “Either a person is achieving and happy, or not achieving and depressed. Or they’re achieving something irrelevant – they sublimate. They need to be working and building and dedicated to something….There’s a sublimation of the need to perfect…can be sublimated to something else, something less meaningful. The neshama thinks it’s getting fed.”
This is such an important point. We can approximate the feeling of happiness by pursuing any goal. But genuine happiness is only felt from spiritual pursuits. Not that non-spiritual goals are always irrelevant—far from it. Some of them are actually necessary for life. But the happiness we feel from non-spiritual pursuits should not be mixed up with the kind of genuine contentment we feel from getting closer to G-d. And too often, that is exactly what happens.
Judaism and conscience
In About.com Judaism, Rabbi Shraga Simmons of Aish.com argues that Jews should not blindly trust their conscience but rather follow the Torah. This is so, says Simmons, for two basic reasons:
- “There are times when you know objectively that something is good for you, but your physical desires get in the way and distort your outlook.” For example, you know you should get out of bed in the morning and be productive, but your lazy side tells you to go back to sleep.
- What a person thinks of as “good” and “bad” is influenced by social ideologies. For example, the Nazis redefined the term “human being” so that it did not include Jews. Therefore, killing Jews was not murder. Rather, it was considered “good” to eliminate them.
The Torah, says Simmons, provides “a greater system. Something above and beyond the determination of mortal man.”
Simmons’ reasoning makes sense. The problem with his argument is that the Torah is not a monolithic body of answers to today’s questions. Rather, it is a combination of Written Law (the word of G-d) and the Oral Law (the traditions passed down from man to man). So what is a person to do when they either
1) do not know what to do because of ignorance of Jewish law or
2) do not know what to do because Jewish opinions differ or
3) know what the halachic standpoint is but disagree with it on the basis of their conscience?
There appears to be an answer in Progressive Judaism. As Wikipedia explains, Progressive Judaism endorses halacha, but with the following qualifications:
1) Commandments (mitzvot) from G-d to man are less important than commandments between people and each other. Social justice is primary.
2) Personal morality is primary— “ideas and commandments that contradict the contemporary Jew's conscience or consciousness” are rejected.
In fact, Progressive Judaism “opposes any form of coercion on obeying mitzvot. The individual is expected – and obligated – to determine in a sovereign and intelligent manner his or her spiritual life.” Therefore, some Progressive Jews may emphasize dietary laws, while others may be more strict about Sabbath.
The problems with Progressive Judaism, though, are that:
1) All the mitzvot come from G-d, and we do not necessarily know whether mitzvot between G-d and man are less important than those between people and each other.
2) If we make a conscience judgment on our own, we may be mistaken. If we follow halacha, we are guaranteed not to get in trouble with G-d.
The remedy for #1 is to avoid making value judgments on mitzvot and instead strive to fulfill all of them equally well.
The remedy for #2 is trickier. People were given free will for a reason—so that they could exercise the capacity to make moral judgments. It is impossible to know what the halacha is in every situation. Moreover, it is very possible to disagree with the conclusions reached by mainstream Orthodox rabbis about some of the issues involving contemporary life. So in a case where someone does not know (and can’t find out) or just does not agree on the basis of their conscience, it may be possible that G-d allows us to make our own decisions. I say “may be” very guardedly. Because once you open the door to just doing whatever you personally believe in limited situations, it is a short step toward disregarding all of halacha.
The answer is, if you don’t know the law, try to find out what it is before just doing whatever you want.
If you do know the law (you know all the relevant opinions), but disagree with it, then make your best judgment about whether to follow the law anyway (trusting the authority of the rabbis) or not to follow it (trusting in your innate capacity to distinguish between right and wrong). I believe that G-d will understand, either way. Just be careful.
The Jewish View of Reincarnation – A Chance To Get Things Right
In the article “Reincarnation and Jewish Tradition,” by Yaakov Astor, excerpted from Astor’s book Soul Searching (Targum Press), reincarnation—defined as “the reentry of the soul into an entirely new body in the present world”—is discussed at length.
Astor notes that many people are surprised to find that reincarnation is “part of Jewish tradition.” However, he says, reincarnation is mentioned numerous times in Jewish mystical texts, especially the Zohar: “As long as a person is unsuccessful in his purpose in this world, the Holy One, blessed be He, uproots him and replants him over and over again. (Zohar I:186b)”
Astor notes that the first-century sage Nechuniah ben Hakanah suggested that reincarnation explains “why bad things happen to good people.” In short, people pay for the sins of prior lives by being punished in a current one (or vice versa, but it's predominantly the former).
Reincarnation, says Astor, was a cornerstone of Jewish belief for the great Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (1534-1572), who was known as the “Ari.” Astor claims that the Ari is responsible for transforming reincarnation into a mainstream Jewish belief, “inhabiting the thought and writings of great scholars and leaders from classic commentators on the Talmud…to the founder of the Chassidic Movement, the Baal Shem Tov, as well as the leader of the non-Chassidic world, the Vilna Gaon.”
However, according to BeliefNet, reincarnation is not a focus of Orthodox Judaism, which “generally focuses on strictly following God's commandments rather than on details of afterlife or rewards after death.” This is borne out by another author, at Soc.Culture.Jewish Newsgroups, who puts it this way: “The focus of Jewish life is living according to G-d's will as expressed in the Torah. What happens afterwards is up to G-d.”
Where is reincarnation found in the Torah, Nevi’im, or Ketuvim? Astor notes that the book of Job (Eyov) has the following verse: “Behold, all these things does God do -- twice, even three times with a man -- to bring his soul back from the pit that he may be enlightened with the light of the living.” (Job 33:29) Astor explains this verse to mean that God literally brings people out of hell so that they can try again.
What happens to a person after death? Soc.Culture.Jewish Newsgroups offers a mystical explanation: “When the body dies, if the person merits it, a small portion of the soul remains with it to keep it connected with the soul's source, anticipating the general revival of the dead at the time that G-d decrees. Different parts of the remainder of the soul may go to different places. One might be reincarnated into a new body in an attempt to rectify another of its spiritual aspects, or for other purposes. One part might go to a level of Paradise. Another might go to Gehinnom for a period, to remove the sins of that life and prepare it for a future one. Another part might join temporarily with an already living person, to assist it with its rectification and in the process gather more merit. The reassignments of the soul continues until the time that G-d decrees.” According to this view, the soul can seemingly be subdivided into many mini-souls, each with its own kind of mission.
In “Life in the Hereafter: A Tour of What’s To Come,” Zalman Schachter has this to say about reincarnation: “Nothing new can be gained in heaven. The quantity of mitzvot (deeds or blessings) and Torah acquired by the time of death is what remains with a person after death. In heaven one can gain only a deeper and richer understanding of his life on earth. It is for this reason that souls, once they have absorbed all that heaven has to offer, apply for reincarnation, i.e. in order to attain further perfection. Reincarnation is also granted to allow the soul to bring about a restitution of the wrongs it has committed.”
One thing that all views of reincarnation seem to have in common is the belief that people need a chance to make things right, and that for whatever reason they may not take advantage of the opportunity to do so in their present life. In that case, reincarnation becomes an option once they pass over into the next world.