"NOpinion Editorials are posted and archived on JN Online: www.detroitjewishnews.com Dry Bones r NEB koNeq., Sustaining The Middle I n the mid-1980s, Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg in New York electrified the Jewish world by predicting a dichotomy by the year 2000. He wrote that American Jewry was slid- ing toward two poles: Orthodox and non-Orthodox. Rabbi Greenberg for years has worked through his CLAL organization for Jewish learning and leadership toward a goal of tolerance and harmony among the major Jewish religious streams. Yet he predicted that we would fail. We haven't, but we better take notice. Among the challenges confronting American Jewry is the dilemma facing the Conservative movement ("Conservative Movement Feels The Squeeze," Nov. 14, page 21). The largest of the Jewish streams just 30-40 years ago, Conservative Judaism is losing membership to the Reform, Reconstructionist and Orthodox movements. At the same time, the number of practic- ing Jews in America is sliding as a result of the temp- tations of modern life, assimilation and intermarriage. Notably, the edges of the Conservative movement have become less defined as Reform congregations become more traditional and modern Orthodoxy continues to grow. Still, the Conservative movement claims 1.5 million members. Only 46 percent of American Jewish households belong to synagogues, according to the latest National Jewish Population Survey and only 27 per- cent of American Jews attend synagogue at least monthly. Look in any non-Orthodox synagogue on Shabbat. How many young people will you find? You don't go to shul regularly on Shabbat? Well, that's what we're talking about. The Conservative movement's members, especially, Q01,1 -11 CAL CORRECT-NESS QUIZ SNOW W1-16N KIDS To 06 LivitQG OomeS NOT C141Lp AQUA demand more of their clergy than them- selves in embracing Halachah. For many members, modern interpretations of tradi- tion and enrichment resonate more than strict adherence to kashrut, Shabbat and other elements of Jewish law. Synagogue attendance and youth group participation are down from years past. But all is not gloom and doom. As our stories pointed out last week, those who have remained Conservative are more com- mitted, more involved, more observant; a more vibrant core is a strong building block. Hebrew school curricula have been modernized and revitalized. Conservative-based early child- hood programs, summer camps and Jewish day schools are recording increasing enrollments. Adults have more Jewish learning opportunities to choose from based on their interest and knowl- edge. Key to moving forward is a widespread commitment by Conservative Jews to creat- ing what Rabbi Daniel Nevins, immediate past president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis, calls a community where Torah and mitzvot are the guiding forces. Another key is defining what makes a Conservative lifestyle distinctive. Programs like the Jewish Federation of Metropoli- tan Detroit's Synagogue 2000, and Kabbalat Shabbat services that are informal and musical, have taken an interactive approach: upbeat, jazzy, engaging alterna- tive religious services for all ages as well as making congregations, warmer, more welcoming and more fulfilling. - Is it working? It depends on whose numbers you believe. In reality, it may depend on how often you find the synagogue appealing, how often you find that it speaks to you as a Conservative Jew. El people are still trying to find hope amid the prevailing official stalemate of violence and repression. The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, still clings to his murderous past, refusing to let his new prime minister, Ahmed Queri, take any effective action to curb the ter- rorists of Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades. Nor will the Israeli leader, Ariel Sharon, relent in building the security barrier or in expanding settlements across land that will have to become part of any viable Palestinian state. Despair mounts as the official policies vir- tually guarantee that innocent civilians will continue to be killed on both sides of the Green Line. That situation is what gives the Geneva Accord its force. However misguided it is in its details, it is a glimmer of hopefulness in a landscape of anguish. Polls show that both sides truly want to stop the bloodshed, even if that means they must take a leap of faith about the other's long-range intent. In some ways, the accord is grasping at straws, but at the very least, this out-of-channels document forces large segments of the general publics to think more deeply about what is vitally important to them. Neither public is ready to jettison its leaders, but they tell pollsters that the leaders' policies are not working. And that, in turn, sets a stage for changes of policy, perhaps heralded by some quiet easing of Israeli restrictions matched simultaneously by meaningful steps to curb the Palestinian terrorists. Israeli support for a permanent two-state solution is well documented; a rally of 100,000 people earlier this month to remember slain Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin was a powerful reminder of that commitment. The trick is to widen a Palestinian dedication to the same goal, possibly by giving greater governmental support to centrist projects in education, health and housing. With the American-backed road map for Mideast peace moribund, if not finally buried, U.S. policy should not squelch this small effort. Secretary of State Colin Powell was right to say that the accord is ), "important in helping sustain an atmosphere of hope. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan have hailed the accord, which is to be signed Dec. 1 with former President Jimmy Carter and South Africa's former leader, Nelson Mandela, looking on. If peace is ever to come to Israel, it will have to take root first in unofficial ways, in the hopes of ordi- nary Israelis and Palestinians. The Geneva Accord may be way off in its details, but its heart is in the right place. QS ON - EDIT ORIAL To Kindle Hope 111 uch is being made this week of the "Geneva Accord," an unofficial plan for settling the disputes between Israel and the Palestinians. Every home in Israel was due to get a copy of the agreement that was "nego- tiated" between a handful of out-of-power Israeli leftists led by former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and so-called centrist out-of-power Palestinians led by former Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo. Copies printed in Arabic have been snatched up wildly on the West Bank and in Gaza. The specifics of the accord itself are unacceptable. It trades away lands vital to Israeli security and fragments what must remain a united Jerusalem on the strength of vague and unenforceable promises that the Palestinians will respect Israel's right to exist and will drop their demand for an unlimited right of return to homes they left 55 years ago. Even former Prime Minister Ehud Barak denounced it, in a lovely turn of phrase, as "the peace of ostriches." But that is not the issue. The real point is that some EDIT ORIAL