Conservative Judaism

Abstract

Conservative Judaism emerged from the ranks of the Reform movement as a reaction against its radical tendencies. In 1845 Zacharias Frankel broke ranks with other Reformers, and subsequently became the head of the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau. In the United States a number of like-minded adherents of the positive-historical approach to Judaism established the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York which was later headed by the Cambridge scholar Solomon Schechter. As Conservative Judaism expanded in the 1920s and 1930s, a degree of uniformity was instituted within the movement, yet there was a general reluctance on the part of most thinkers to enunciate a comprehensive philosophy of the movement. In consequence, there is considerable uncertainty within Conservative Judaism about religious principles as well as observances: as in Reform Judaism, Conservative thinkers have advanced a wide variety of interpretations of the central teachings of the faith. Similarly there is considerable variance with regard to Jewish practice. Such a lack of coherence constitutes Conservative Judaism’s central weakness — despite its promotion of traditional values, Conservatism is deeply divided over the central features of the Jewish heritage.