Poll for Conservative Jews: what is you opinion on this?

Question

A while back the rabbi at my synagogue mentioned that the movement should change it's name because "Conservative" is a bit confusing to some people (think about what is usually implied by the term Conservative and you can see what they mean). Do you think the movement should continue to be called "Conservative Judaism" or should the movement change it's name? Why? If you think that the movement should change it's name, what should it change it to? Why?
Thank you in advance for your answers.

Answer 1

I really think that we Jews know where Conservative fits in and others are correct in that while Masorti Judaism is an interesting name, we'd have to explain that too!



I, too, would love to hear your Rabbi's ideas, though!

Answer 2

Black Rabbit of Inel is a frequent YA user with serious disdain of Judaism (his blog makes KKK look mild). He quotes out of context & falsely all the time. Observant Jews thinking other Jews should also be observant isn't some hideous concept, as he's implying. (I'm Reform myself.)



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On name change, I think anyone Jewish in the US has a perfectly normal sense of what the Conservative movement is. It's not the issue the movement's having. It has an important niche. To improve appeal, more important than the name is the way it presents. I've enjoyed some Conservative congregations. Others were the typical sense of assimilated but with money and a bit stodgy & stuffy & your parent's Judaism feeling to them. That's really what I'd target -- but emphasizing it's benefits over Reform, which is that it is more classic in it's prayers & honor of roots & traditions of Judaism. It's "core" Judaism but in a modern age. The same reason Reconstructionist was an offshoot of Conservative, not Reform Judaism.



On Polaski's thoughts -

Very interesting, Masorti. I think though that switching to the word traditional, or Hebrew for it, will just increase the sense of stodginess. Rather than the sense of increased "spiritualness" & "depth" that it could be advertising & growing towards & reaching for.

Answer 3

You can ignore anything that Black Rabbit writes; he's a notorious anti-Semite that posts tons of anti-Jewish garbage here daily.



I'm not a Conservative Jew (I'm Reform) but I will admit that to non-Jews the term can be misleading. I usually have to spend about 30 seconds explaining what Conservative Judaism entails. However, I've never met a Jew who didn't know what Conservative Judaism is and where it fits along the spectrum of Judaism so I'm not sure why they're considering a name change.



I do know that elsewhere it's called Masorti Judaism which is Hebrew for "traditional".

Answer 4

I'm not Jewish but I do occasionally visit a Conservative synagogue. As others have pointed out, those that are Jewish already know where Conservative Judaism stands. Those that are a bit confused by the name "Conservative" will be even more confused if the name suddenly changed.

Answer 5

Before I agreed whether or not the Conservative Movement should rename itself, I'd be curious to know what your rabbi, or anyone, thinks would be a better alternative name. All labels are merely labels. Would some other label be less confusing? If we adopted "Masorti", we'd still have to explain it all.

So what's better?

Answer 6

Interesting article here: http://www.beingjewish.com/ortho/ortho3.html



"Without Halachic life, there is ultimately no adherence to Jewish life at all. Only when the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionists return to true Judaism will they find their numbers rising again.



To summarize: the numbers of non-Orthodox Jews are decreasing because:



1. They are marrying Gentiles;

2. They have no Torah to guide them;

3. They have little or no spirituality to relate to;

4. They know of no logic to forbid intermarriage;

5. They have, and continue to erode Jewish Law, and therefore Jewish Life."