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Photo by Frank Monkiewicz

Substance

New chancellor energizes
Conservative rabbis.

mitment to marrying critical scholar-
ship and fidelity to Jewish law.
• Some have argued publicly that
a gap between the more observant
Cambridge, Mass.
practices of Conservative clergy and
less observant laypeople challenges
e was given four standing ova-
the accuracy of the movement's self-
tions and received universal
description as "halachic."
praise from Conservative rabbis
During the heyday of Conservative
last week, but Arnold Eisen still has his
Judaism in the mid-20th century, the
work cut out for him as he prepares to
movement was well in tune with the
help steer the Conservative movement out
demographic and cultural trends of
of the doldrums.
American Jews. It was boosted by its
On July 1, Eisen will assume the chan-
move to allow driving to synagogue on
cellorship of the Jewish Theological
Shabbat, a ruling that coincided with
Seminary and with it the de-facto leader-
the great Jewish migration from dense
ship of the Conservative movement.
urban neighborhoods to the suburbs.
Eisen, a professor of Jewish studies at
Eisen said contemporary beliefs and
Stanford University for the past 20 years
Arnold Eisen speaks to the Conservative convention.
practices of American Jews are no lon-
and a leading scholar of contemporary
Jewry, is only the second non-rabbi to lead ger working in the movement's favor.
said he was filled with confidence.
ingful and convincing.
Freedom and mobility have threatened
the movement's flagship seminary. His
"Today," Rabbi Kushner told Eisen after
"Jews
are
living
in
a
time
and
space
that
appointment last year raised some hackles. the building of strong communities, which
his
presentation, "I am thrilled that you
is
not
Jewish,"
he
said.
The
claims
of
obli-
Eisen identified as a critical component in
Yet by all accounts, any qualms about
will
be the new leader of our movement."
gation
"are
not
plausible
unless
they
come
the success of Orthodoxy.
Eisen's leadership evaporated after two
Rabbi
Raphael Friedman of the
in
a
situation
of
community."
Jews are committed to the modern
speeches last week before some 400 rabbis
Emanuel
Synagogue in West Hartford,
Above
all,
the
movement
must
intensely
ideology of personal sovereignty, which
at the Rabbinical Assembly's annual con-
Conn.,
echoed
the views of many when he
engage
its
congregants
in
a
way
that
rivals
rubs against the notion of Halachah as a
vention in Cambridge, Mass.
said
of
Eisen:
"I
was not blown away by
what
is
frequently
found
in
Orthodox
binding set of laws. And they take their
In his remarks, his first to movement
charisma.
I
was
impressed by substance
communities.
There
is
a
hunger
for
that,
cues on the meaning of prayer and reli-
rabbis since being appointed chancellor,
and
insight:'
I
Eisen
said,
and
the
Conservative
move-
gious obligation from the surrounding
Eisen was frank in pointing out where the
ment must provide it.
Christian culture.
movement has come up short. He sug-
"If we can't win on that count," Eisen
Changed circumstances require
gested the movement has "largely dropped
said,
"we can't win."
changes in rabbinic training and in the
the ball" by allowing pluralism — the
Answering
Rabbis
from across the country and
notion of competing views of Halachah, or movement's strategies, Eisen said. He
around
the
world
greeted
Eisen
with
a
urged Conservative rabbis to build "tight
Israel's Critics
Jewish law, coexisting harmoniously — to
communities" in which meaningful Jewish standing ovation before and after one pre-
become its core message.
sentation. They were on their feet for Eisen
practice is part of the broader rhythms
"Let's be mature about this': Eisen said.
The Charge
again that evening in a public address at
of life. He warned them against pursuing
"Agreeing to disagree is not enough to
Last week, the World Bank called on
Congregation
Mishkan
Tefila
in
nearby
a top-down pedagogy that begins with
keep a movement going."
Israel to ease restrictions on the move-
Chestnut
Hill.
asserting the requirements of Jewish law.
His tenure begins at a time of great
ment of Palestinians in the West Bank
In
the
hallways,
the
rabbis
uniformly
Eisen urged the rabbis to think more
unease within the Conservative move-
and Gaza, saying they prevented a
praised
his
intellect,
vision,
energy
and
broadly about the concept of "mitzvah,"
ment, once America's largest Jewish
Palestinian
economic revival.
courage
in
speaking
forthrightly
about
the
which he suggested means more than
denomination but now surpassed by the
challenges
facing
the
movement.
simply "commandment," as it is normally
Reform movement.
The Answer
Former Detroiter Harold Kushner, a
defined.
But the numbers tell only part of the
Israel's system of restrictions is nec-
longtime
Conservative
rabbi
and
the
best-
Instead of the rabbi preaching about
story. The movement has been through
essary to counter terrorism. The
When
Bad
Things
Happen
selling
author
of
what everyone is obliged to do, he said,
a bruising year in which a controversial
Palestinians' economic problems are a
said
he
was
"dismayed"
to
Good
People,
rabbis need to create strong bonds of
decision by its top legal authorities to
direct result of that terrorism as well as
when
the
Seminary
first
announced
it
had
community that make obligation to one
permit the ordination of gay and lesbian
internal violence and political instability
chosen
a
non-rabbi
as
its
leader.
another and to God much more appealing
clergy led to concerns about an internal
Rabbi
Kushner
said
a
gulf
has
opened
to a contemporary person.
split and a further erosion in the coher-
- Allan Gale
up in recent years between the Seminary
Eisen also argued that Jewish life must
ence of its message.
Jewish
Community
Relations
Council
and
the
experience
of
rabbis
in
the
field.
• Some worry that Conservative Judaism be lived inside what he called a "plausibil-
of
Metropolitan
Detroit
But
after
reading
several
of
Eisen's
books
ity structure" — the social and cultural
has chosen pluralism as its defining fea-
and
hearing
him
speak,
Rabbi
Kushner
context
that
makes
religious
claims
mean-
ture and lost touch with its historic com-

Ben Harris

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

H

May 17 0 2007

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