thodoxy stands for — Torah-
true Jews who understand
the responsibility to be firm
in following mitzvahs,"
Rabbi Polish said. People
also understand Reform
Judaism allows one to be
responsive to Jewish tradi-
tions by using that which is
meaningful to them.
While the Conservative
movement has left a deep
mark on Judaism with its
establishment of youth pro-
grams and love of Israel, the
definition of Conservative
Judaism needs to be
strengthened, he said.
Although the Conser-
vative movement has tried
to carve out its niche by
following the middle ground,
it has caused a fuzzy identity
among the children of Con-
servative Jews, he said.
"Conservative Judaism
has not succeeded in holding
onto its youth," Rabbi Polish
said. "A certain number get
excited about Judaism.
Those very excited, deeply
committed Jews become Or-
thodox. Another portion not
being reached in some way,
those people turn to Reform
Judaism. That leaves

The definition of
Conservative
Judaism needs to
be strengthened.

relatively few young people
(within the Conservative
movement)."
Conservative Judaism's
search for the middle ground
sometimes leaves it with the
inability to inspire people to
passionately care about
Judaism, Rabbi Polish said.
"Mamas, papas and children
don't have a definite, clear
commitment to Jewish life
for themselves. That makes
it a problem for us as a peo-
ple."
Yet, Rabbi Polish sees a
common bond between
Reform and Conservative
Judaism. There might only
be two movements of
Judaism, the Orthodox and
the non-Orthodox.
Conservative Judaism is
really a different side of the
Reform movement, he said.
Both movements struggle to
ease the tension between
embracing both the modern
and traditional worlds.
Orthodoxy resolved that
tension by rejecting much of
modern life, Rabbi Polish
said. But the other answer is
what both the Reform and
Conservative movements
have tried to do, try to find a
compromise between tradi-
tional Judaism and the
secular, changing world.
While the Reform move-

Rabbi Daniel Polish

ment tried to relieve the ten-
sion by giving up too much
Judaic content, Conser-
vative Jews try to hold on to
the traditions of Judaism,
Rabbi Polish said. "We are
two faces of the same move-
ment."
It was out of that struggle
that Conservative Judaism
was born. When the Reform
movement went too far in
acquiescing to the needs of
the modern world, Conser-
vative Jews wanted to hold
onto its traditions.
That's what happened in
September 1861 when 12
members of Temple Beth El
walked out and formed Con-
gregation Shaarey Zedek
over the issue of mixed
seating, he said. It was a
similar situation when some
Jews formed the Conser-
vative movement after an-
grily walking out of the
Hebrew Union College
dinner when shrimp and
lobster were served.
Reform Judaism has
always been the first to in-
troduce change to Judaism
including ordaining women
rabbis and reaching out to
interfaith couples, he said.
While the Conservative
movement has accepted
some of those changes, it has
also brought tradition back
into Reform Judaism, he
said. For example, when
Reform Judaism wanted to
eliminate Hebrew from the
prayer service, Conservative
Jews embraced the lang-
uage. Most Reform con-
gregations have brought
Hebrew back into the ser-
vice.
While the rabbi admits
some great differences re-
main between Conservative
and Reform Judaism, the
Operation Desert Storm and
the bombing of Tel Aviv
show the two movements are
closer than they seem.
"The level of concern is the
same for Reform Jews and •
Conservative Jews. We're
part of the same commun-
ity," he said. ❑

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