The theology of conservative Judaism

Judaism, Spring, 1998 by Arnold Jacob Wolf

His attitude toward ritual change is expressed in a letter he wrote to Rabbi Solomon Goldman:

If the attitude of the Seminary means anything to you, it would be not at any time to force or even encourage changes in the ritual or the practice of a Congregation. We have not refused the fellowship of the Conservative Congregations, but it has not been our purpose to depart from the main stream of Rabbinic Judaism.

I recognize that we cannot control either the rabbis or the Congregations, but I have always hoped that the result of the Seminary's teaching would be the maintenance of the traditional worship. (I, p. 119)

Adler built the first new campus on the upper West Side of Manhattan. His long tenure molded the institutional solidity of the Seminary providing, however, no clear ideology or theology, with a strong moral preference for tradition combined with a decorous American style.

Louis Finkelstein (1940-1972) on the other hand, was very much a rabbi, a graduate of the new Seminary. He had served as Adler's deputy and successor-inwaiting. He was a famous scholar who had written seminal books on the Pharisees and Rabbi Akiba as well as important textual studies of rabbinic classics. He was a pious and charismatic focus for the school and the burgeoning Conservative movement. Finkelstein brought the school to national, even international, attention. Once pictured on a cover of Time magazine, he created numerous interreligious institutes and colloquia designed to advance the cause of religion in "pagan America." His conviction was that Judaism must be considered, as it usually was not, a world religion of earth-shaking ethical importance.

The real difficulty we must face . . . is the . . . heathenization or paganization of such a large part of the population both Jewish and Christian. For us Jews, the problem happens to be more urgent and vital than for others; because the destruction of religion in America will involve the destruction also of the religious training of freedom; and with that our civil liberties. . . . From the long range point of view, I do not know of anything we can do more important than to make some contribution to the preservation of religion as a vital force in America. So far as Jews are concerned . . . there is no safety for them unless they manage to establish higher ethical standards in their own life. To do this means to revitalize Jewish religion and prevent the growth of secularist tendencies which are undermining it. To achieve this end, it is necessary to make the Jews, and particularly Jewish youth, understand that Jewish religion is not something singular and queer. It has its place in the modern world order. It therefore becomes essential for the future of Judaism itself that its advancement should be correlated with a similar effort to advance the cause of religion generally. (I, p. 166)

Finkelstein was a genius at public relations, creating ecumenical opportunities in places like Union Seminary, the University of Chicago, and the media. "The Eternal Light," a radio and, occasionally, television series, made the Seminary a household word across America. I, myself, still remember dramas, mostly by Morton Wishengrad, to which I listened avidly decades ago. These programs of outreach, popular and intellectual alike, were the creation of the Seminary's President (later Chancellor). He was also responsible for building the permanent campus, the Ramah Camp system for teenagers and younger children, and a Leadership Training Fellowship, which produced in its brief life a number of leaders of the Conservative movement.