. ' .iliDLL9 Ai1 .1,11:: 1- 114' r2L

World

NEWS

at aJ

OF;

ANALYSIS

Spiritual Breakout

Why do promising Conservative
alumni set up "indie" minyans?

Ben Harris

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

New York

Complete kitchen and bathroom remodeling as well as furniture
design and installations including granite, wood and other materials.

Lois Heron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989

David and Howard Jacobson and Steve Swartz invite you to tour

• Featuring 1 & 2 Bedroom apartments
for those aged 55+
• Beautifully landscaped grounds
• Social activities and events
• Utilities included with rent
• Balconies with great neighborhood views

Visit us today! (248) 399-9300.
2345 Oxford
Located just North of 11 Mile
and East of Coolidge

Qeo

Call us today for a free
powerwashing estimate!

POWERWASHING & SURFACE RESTORATION

Commercial & Residential Powerwashing

• Deck Restoration
• Docks, Gazebos
• Vinyl, Aluminum,
Cedar Siding

• Interior and Exterior Painting
• We will leave your home & deck
looking clean & beautiful.
• We use cleaners which will not
only clean the surface, but also
resist future mildew growth.
• We rinse away all of our debris.

11i01.11

Offering Senior Citizen Discount!

A28

Aprii 2 2009

Call Us At

• Concrete Garage Floors
& Driveways
• Walkways & Patios
• Brick Paver Cleaning & Sealing

248-504-8176

Well beat any competitor's price!

Special $99

Deck Powerwash

Up to 500 sq. ft.
250 extra per sq. ft.
for add'I surface. Add'I
charges may apply.

$25 OFF

Clean & Seal

Additional charges
may apply.

Special $299

Deck Sealed
with MVP

Up to 500 sq. ft.
550 extra per sq. ft. for
add'I surface.

I

t's been a tough few weeks for
the leadership of the United
Synagogue, the Conservative
movement's synagogue association.
The recent announcement that
Rabbi Steven Wernick would become
its new executive vice president was
overshadowed by a group of move-
ment leaders who publicly com-
plained they had been shut out of the
selection process.
That was followed the next week
by a group of synagogue presidents
threatening secession unless the
United Synagogue agreed to make
a number of largely administrative
changes.
A peculiar disconnect exists
between the urgency of the rhetoric
— nothing less than the future of
Conservative Judaism is at stake, the
suddenly rebellious insiders say —
and the substance of the complaints,
which are in danger of drowning in
bureaucratese.
The problem with the United
Synagogue is its lack of transparency
and inclusivity, the critics say, and
the solution lies in engagement and
coordination. Some pointed to the
results of a mostly shelved organiza-
tional study from 2004 undertaken by
a management consultant. The United
Synagogue stands accused of trying
to run a top-down 20th century orga-
nization at the dawn of the 21st.

Up To Challenge?
Particularly in the era of Barack
Obama, it's hard to argue with calls
for greater transparency and open-
ness.
But for a movement that has been
hemorrhaging members and los-
ing both ground and confidence in
the wake of the Reform movement's
surge, the solution doesn't seem com-
mensurate with the challenge. And
while the United Synagogue leader-
ship accepts many of the criticisms
— Wernick told the Jewish Week
that he plans to "re-energize and re-

engage" the movement's synagogues
— perhaps a more important mea-
sure of the movement's health lies
elsewhere.

More Inclusive
Last month, the outgoing chief execu-
tive of the United Synagogue, Rabbi
Jerome Epstein, released an op-ed
urging Conservative synagogues to
welcome so-called independent min-
yanim under their roofs.
With their blend of egalitarianism
and spirited worship, and an enviable
ability to attract the cohort of Jewish
young adults who largely have eluded
efforts to attract them to their syna-
gogues, the minyanim have become
a target of increased attention and
philanthropic dollars in recent years.
And to the chagrin of the movement
leadership, they also are started fre-
quently by individuals with roots in
Conservative Judaism.
"They live precisely as we told
them to, but paradoxically they prac-
tice their Judaism outside our move-
ment," Epstein wrote. "They perceive
that there is no place for them and
their Judaism in the Conservative
synagogue. If we want to grow in
numbers and strength, if we want
to inspire passion and commitment,
we have to welcome those Jews who
live our values and ideology outside
of our synagogues to do it inside our
synagogues instead:'
Over the summer, Epstein offered
$2,500 grants to the minyanim in an
effort to draw them into some sort
of relationship with the Conservative
movement. More than six months
later, the organization has handed out
six grants.
At least two went to minyanim
that already had relationships with
a local Conservative synagogue. One
minyan founder in New York said his
group's connection to the movement
had changed little since it received
the grant.
One grant recipient in Los Angeles,
after deciding to hold services at a
nearby Conservative synagogue, post-
ed a frequently asked questions list on
its Web site. The first question asked if
the move signified the minyan would

