I
Spotlight
Soul Filled
Conservative movement conference eyes a more inspiring way to pray.
Cherry Hill, NJ/
Philadelphia Jewish Exponent
D
o Conservative Jews need a new,
perhaps jazzier way to pray?
Rabbi Steven Wernick, executive
vice president of the United Synagogue of
Conservative Judaism, apparently thinks so.
During his
much-anticipated
installation speech
at the United
Synagogue's bien-
nial gathering last
week, he called
for the immedi-
ate creation of a
movement-wide
task
force to tackle
Rabbi Wernick
the issue of prayer.
"Many of our congregations report that
tefillot in many of our synagogues do not
speak to them, do not inspire them and do
not reach their heart or their souls," said
Wernick, who took the helm of an orga-
nization that represents North American
Conservative congregations in July.
Wernick said that many participants
of Ramah camps and United Synagogue
youth programs, for example, "come
home to find the excitement and spiritual
engagement they experience elsewhere
missing in their own communities."
The four-day conference was held as
United Synagogue undergoes a structural
upheaval brought about in large part by
the dissatisfaction of congregations claim-
ing that they weren't receiving enough
programmatic and other kinds of guid-
ance in exchange for their dues.
Many of the more than 500 lay leaders
and professionals who came to the bien-
nial from across the United States and
Canada did express hope, though tinged
with skepticism, that United Synagogue
can transform itself into an entity that
helps congregations become more dynam-
ic, welcoming and fiscally stable.
At the conference, United Synagogue
adopted a new set of bylaws with the aim
of becoming more efficient. They included
reducing the size of its board by about half
and the number of offices from 15 to six.
Talks were held about changing the
formula for determining the dues that
congregations pay, but no formal propos-
als were made.
The biennial also served to jump-start
a nine-month process in which United
Synagogue will adopt a new long-range
strategic plan.
"While we have considerable problems,
I think we continue to have the best prod-
uct," said Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson,
dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic
Studies in Los Angeles.
Artson sat on a panel about the future
of the movement with Wernick; Rabbi
Julie Schonfeld, the first woman to head
the Rabbinical Assembly; and Cantor
Stephen Stein, executive vice president of
the Cantors Assembly.
movement attract more members in their
20s and 30s? Is the name itself outmoded?
How can the arms of the movement work
together better?
On the issue of prayer, Stein took a
slightly different tack than Wernick.
"You can start by coming to shul. It's
like any other skill set — if you don't
practice it, you aren't going to be able to
do it:' he said, adding that cantors are far
more open to experimentation than many
realize.
"Come to shul and I'll do anything; I'll
stand on my head and sing Yankee Doodle
to Adon Olam."
Wernick said that too often, worshipers
feel they are "prisoners" to the traditional
prayerbook and diversity needs to be
encouraged.
He also said clergy need to better
explain the poetry and symbolism inher-
ent in the liturgy.
Adon Olam, for example, is all about
offering worshipers a measure of comfort
as they leave sanctified space and head
back into a world that can be tense and
even frightening.
"We need to really open up the prayers
in that kind of way:' he said.
"Whether we sing them to Yankee
Doodle or the melodies of the great chaz-
zanim," Wernick said, "they become more
than just sing songs and more than just
rushing through the words."
Stein said that while synagogues must
try to bring in as many new people as
possible — while still appealing to its
core — the movement as a whole should
only count as Conservative Jews those who
follow Jewish law, as opposed to any indi-
vidual that belongs to a United Synagogue
affiliate.
The Cantors Assembly leader pushed
some buttons when he suggested that
spouses of clergy members — even those
with highly demanding careers — need to
contribute more time and energy to their
congregations.
Schonfeld said that in an age when
many are asking if movements and
denominations have outlived their useful-
ness, Conservative Judaism could offer
up a new working definition of what a
denomination can look like.
"That new denomination:' she said, "as
opposed to being boxes in which we put
people, is going to be more like an ecosys-
tem —more like an interdependent and
complex world in which there is room for
all different kinds of Jews." 1-1
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What Is Conservatism?
During the hourlong discussion, the audi-
ence raised pressing questions confront-
ing the movement. Among them: What
does it mean to be a Conservative Jew
in an age when far fewer Jews identify
with denominational labels? How can the
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December 17 • 2009
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