They say that Conservative Judaism started as an argument over shrimp. There were many Jews embracing the Reform Movement philosophically, yet unwilling to take it too far. It seems that the more radical group within the Reform Movement wished to cancel too many traditional Jewish practices, such as Kashrut; and so, the more traditionally inclined group, which objected to the abandonment of Kashrut, yet did not wish to rejoin their Orthodox brethren, summarily split from the radicals, and called themselves “Conservatives.”
…This is a very understandable interpolation between tradition and compromise, but there is obviously no deep philosophy in such a compromise squared. For this reason, although I sympathize with the "Conservatives," I cannot possibly see them as anything rather than a footnote to Reform Judaism, and this settles the matter for me.
As a postscript to the above, some Reform Jews promptly realized the error of their overly radical ways, and readjusted their core Jewish values against the public cult of the shrimp. (Many of them did this by going vegetarian, a much kinder and gentler way of avoiding a cultural clash than raising religious differences as the reason.) As it turned out, the Conservatives did not have to split after all, and today, with the exception of some very gay “Reform” congregations, the two are rather hard to distinguish.
…This is a very understandable interpolation between tradition and compromise, but there is obviously no deep philosophy in such a compromise squared. For this reason, although I sympathize with the "Conservatives," I cannot possibly see them as anything rather than a footnote to Reform Judaism, and this settles the matter for me.
As a postscript to the above, some Reform Jews promptly realized the error of their overly radical ways, and readjusted their core Jewish values against the public cult of the shrimp. (Many of them did this by going vegetarian, a much kinder and gentler way of avoiding a cultural clash than raising religious differences as the reason.) As it turned out, the Conservatives did not have to split after all, and today, with the exception of some very gay “Reform” congregations, the two are rather hard to distinguish.
No comments:
Post a Comment