CSJO-CU8.7

=CSJO-Grade 8 Lesson 8.7 (CSJO-Template)=


 * TITLE:** Conservative Judaism: Yearning for tradition

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Explore its origins first in Germany and then in the United States. Explore how wealthy American Reform Jews at the beginning of the 1900's funded the Conservative Movement for the coarse Yiddish-speaking Jews from Eastern Europe to 1) provide a familiar form of Jewish religious practice that they would be willing to join, 2) Americanize them and 3) maintain the social separation of them from their cultured Western European co-religionists who were in the Reform movement. ===== Understand the basic beliefs and practices of Conservative Jews and how they compare with the Jewish groups previously studied. Play Rock, Paper, Scissor Marathon: Each student partners up to play three rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Whoever wins two out of three gets to play against another winner. The losers now become the winner's teammates by cheering the winner's name as he/she plays a new opponent. Continue until there is a single winner and everyone else cheering his/her name. Write MODERNITY on the board and have students come up with as many words within that word (Ex. Modern, mode, tine, rodent, note, mine, tone, tire, etc.). This activity can be done timed and individually or as a class. Highlight the word modern in modernity and define the word (Definition-Modernity: (N) the quality of being modern.) Ask, "Why is it relevant to know this word when learning about the evolution of Judaism?" (Answer: The main issue facing Judaism over the past 250 years has been: How much can we modernize while retaining our Jewish essence?) The success of the Reform Movement in the mid to late 1800's occurred during a time when other Jewish individuals were also adapting Judaism to modernity but in different, less radical ways. In 1845, Rabbi Zecharias Frankel walked out of a conference of Reform Judaism in Frankfurt, Germany, upset for example at the elimination of much of the Hebrew from the services (Sachar, Howard M. (2007-12-18, Kindle Locations 3120-3121). Frankel developed the idea of positive historical religion - Jewish law is not static but always developing. Jews should have a positive attitude toward accepting Jewish law and tradition as normative, but should be open to developing/changing the law as it has been done historically. Changes should be based on Jewish legal principles and not just on reason and norms of modernity as the Reform would have it. The Conservatives (“Historical Judaism”) opened their rabbinical seminary, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau in 1854 with Zecharias Frankel (1801-1875) as president. It moved from the traditional yeshiva model to a secular university model, with all its secular academic requirements.(Wine, Sherwin T. (2012-10-10), Kindle Locations 6349-6351).
 * MATERIALS:** Conservative and Reform Judaism summary argument sheets; Cartoon paper, scrap paper, pens, Oleanna lyrics.
 * LESSON:**
 * 1. Gain attention of learner:**
 * 2. Relevant past learning:** Previously we learned about how Reform and New Orthodox Judaisms were responses to modernity. The turmoil in Eastern Europe brought over 2 million Jews to the United States and they generally were not comfortable with either response.
 * 3.** **Introduce new material:** Use timeline to find Conservative Judaism (Conserv in the chart).

In the United States, at the first graduation of Reform rabbis from Hebrew Union College (1883) – the menu included clam, crab, shrimp and meat and ice cream which galvanized the conservative reformers and some modern orthodox who were worried how much Reform Judaism was dominating American Judaism. They founded the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) of New York City in 1886 for training rabbis in a more conservative version of Reform (hence the name of Conservative Judaism). By 1900, JTS was hardly functioning. The sophisticated Reform German Jews were concerned for the welfare of the flood of Yiddish speaking immigrants but were embarrassed by their ill-mannered, poor, coarse and self-segregating behaviors*. Several very wealthy German Reform Jews revived the failing JTS training and its Conservative Jewish Religion which they felt would be more acceptable than Reform Judaism to these immigrants. Much as Julia Richman was instilling discipline, Americanization, hygiene and moral education into New York City public school students, reviving JTS was seen as a way to Americanize (civilize) and thereby help these immigrant Jews. The objective was to integrate and not just assimilate. The strategy was for JTS rabbinic graduates to be hired by Orthodox synagogues and then lead their congregations to Conservative Judaism. Solomon Schechter was brought in to run the school and shortly thereafter many of the teachers left in protest over his published views. They were replaced by those more in line with the liberal Schechter. By 1913, enough synagogues had been created/converted to formally begin the Conservative Movement with the creation of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. By the 1940’s, Conservative Judaism had become the dominant Jewish denomination in America. [GET REFERENCE]

While Conservative Jews have a high regard for halakhah in principle, most do not follow Jewish law (e.g. do not keep kosher or observe Shabbat) (Pew, 2013) except when at a synagogue and/or at ceremonies performed by rabbis and mohels.

Beliefs Conservative Judaism accepts the results of modern scholarship, including the study of Jewish history. It accepts that the Jewish religious tradition has changed over time and that it continues to develop. While accepting halakhah (Jewish religious law) as essential, it also believes that this law changes over time in response to changing needs. Thus, it has developed methods for interpreting halakhah in a flexible way which, at the same time, is expressed through reference to traditional sources such as the Talmud.

Conservative Judaism accepts as legitimate a variety of views on important topics, some of which may seem contradictory. God may be seen as an external, powerful, commanding being or God may be seen as that which is present when we search for meaning or work for morality, justice, or future redemption. Both views are explicitly accepted within Conservative Judaism. (Emet ve-Emunah pp. 17-18). Similarly, the revelation of religious principles may be seen as a direct personal encounter in which God dictates the actual words of the revelation (as depicted in the Torah with Moses at Sinai), or as an experience of God that inspires humans to write in their own words, or simply the discovery by the study of nature or history of the truth about the world which is considered to reveal what God’s purpose is in creating the world. (Emet ve’Emunah p. 19). The traditional idea that our bodies will be resurrected after death may be taken literally in Conservative Judaism or it may be seen as meaning that our bodies are to be valued or that people survive through their offspring. (Emet ve’Emunah p. 26).

Two important issues that have come to the fore in very recent years, intermarriage and the status of homosexuals, have been addressed by the Conservative Judaism movement. A Conservative rabbi is strictly prohibited not only from officiating at intermarriages between a Jew and a non-Jew, but also from even attending such a marriage ceremony. A Conservative synagogue may not employ clergy who perform intermarriage ceremonies. Only someone whose mother is Jewish is considered to be a Jew unless that person converts to Judaism (requiring both immersion in a ritual bath (mikveh) for both males and females and circumcision for uncircumcised males or drawing a drop of blood from the penis of those already circumcised.) Non-Jewish children and spouses of Jewish members may not become members of the synagogue but are welcome to participate in activities of the synagogue in order to encourage and promote their conversion to Conservative Judaism. Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly – [].

United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism Standards for Congregational Practice []

In 2006, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly approved a resolution permitting the ordination of homosexuals as Conservative rabbis and also permitting Conservative rabbis to preside over commitment ceremonies between two people of the same sex. At the same time, the same committee approved a resolution reaffirming the traditional prohibitions against such ordinations and commitment ceremonies. These two contradictory resolutions permit rabbis to decide which path they prefer. In practice, the Conservative movement now accepts gay and lesbian rabbinical students at its Jewish Theological Seminary and some Conservative rabbis now officiate at same-sex marriages.

Conservative Jews Allow Gay Rabbis and Unions, New York Times, December 7, 2006 Conservative Jewish Seminary Will Accept Gay Students, New York Times, March 27, 2007 Among Conservative Rabbis, a Wide Disagreement Over Same-Sex Marriage, New York Times, August 1, 2011

Each student will write down a time their parents embarrassed them and put the papers in a pile. Volunteers will pick out of the pile and read the situation (Purpose is to give students a sense of the embarrassment felt by the Reform German Jews towards their lower class Eastern European coreligionists). The Norwegian folksong Oleanna is about what life in the United States was supposed to be. Teach and sing several verses of the song. Ask what is the message of this song? (Answer: Europeans thought that those emigrating were naïve in thinking their lives would be great once in America.) Do you think Jewish immigrants to the US had similar idea about America? What were the feelings of the Jews already in the US (A: similar to sentiment of Oleanna) Class simulates a graduation dinner at JTS - Teacher dresses up as Jakob Schiff. "My name is Jakob Heinrich Schiff, although I changed it to Jacob Henry Schiff. I was born in 1847 in Frankfurt Germany. I am a refined and Reform Jew. I was highly educated and became a broker and a banker. In 1865 I moved to America, where I worked on Wall Street and had several businesses. Because of my wealth, I had the opportunity to enter many charitable endeavors. One of which being the Jewish Theological Seminary. Of course you know that because you immigrants are all students of this rabbinical school. Welcome to your graduation dinner! Remember, the amount of donation this school will receive this year is dependent upon your newly acquired table manners. You must eat with fork and knife. No elbows on the table. Absolutely no Yiddish speaking! Do not slurp, but rather take small, silent sips. Sit up straight; no bending over your food like a bunch of savages. And last but not least, smile."
 * 4. Provide Guided Practice**


 * 5. Provide independent practice:** Students will create a cartoon to tell the story of the formation of the Conservative Movement. Students must use buzz words in their cartoons: Jewish Theological Seminary; Hebrew Union College; Rabbi Zecharias Frankel; Immigrants; modernity;
 * 6. Close the lesson:** (review and wrap-up of independent practice and important points of the lesson. Add Conservative to table of Jewish varieties. Generate answer to parents' question "What did you learn today")
 * 7. References:**
 * Wine, Sherwin T. (2012-10-10). A Provocative People: A Secular History of the Jews. IISHJ/Milan Press. Kindle Edition.
 * []
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Theological_Seminary_of_America#The_Schechter_era_.281902-1915.29
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleanna_%28song%29
 * Sachar, Howard M. (2013-07-24). A History of the Jews in America (Vintage). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
 * Sachar, Howard M. (2007-12-18). A History of the Jews in the Modern World (Vintage) (Kindle Locations 3120-3121). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
 * A Portrait of Jewish Americans, Pew Research Center, Oct. 1, 2013


 * 8. Appendix:**
 * With their own transplanted memories of backward Ostjuden [Eastern European Jews], America’s German-Jewish community in the United States had consistently opposed the large-scale immigration of Russian Jews. Indeed, they had opposed it even during an earlier influx in 1869, following a Russian cholera epidemic and famine. If the Easterners must come, Rabbi Bernhard Felsenthal suggested, then let them be dispersed throughout the Western territories, where they could be more swiftly Americanized. Throughout the 1870s, B’nai B’rith leaders complained that “Russian Jews [are] coming to the United States [solely] to improve their economic prospects,” and insisted that New York’s United Hebrew Charities refuse help to any “unemployable” immigrants. The Jewish Messenger proposed the dispatch of missionaries to the Pale [of Russia where most of the Jews lived] to “civilize the Russian Jews rather than have their backwardness ruin the American Jewish community .” “Let those who do not possess a useful trade stay in Europe,” pleaded Isaac M. Wise [. . .], for “we have enough beggars and humbug-seeking vagabonds here.” Such people were divorced (“ herausgerissen”) “from all forms of modern civilization.”
 * Sachar, Howard M. (2013-07-24). A History of the Jews in America (Vintage) (Kindle Locations 2705-2714). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.**

It was the peril of inundation by “uncouth Asiatics,” as the Milwaukee Zeitgeist, a Jewish publication, described them, a “superstitious vestige of antiquity.” Periodic warnings were issued that “[the Russian-Jewish immigrants] are alien to our civilization ,” that American Jewry— in the words of Jacob Schiff —was “called by Divine Providence to stand guard” and defend their community against the onslaught from Eastern Europe. Otherwise, declared August A. Levey secretary of the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society (HEAS), “only disgrace and a lowering of the opinion in which American Israelites are held … can result from the continued residence among us … of these wretches.” Editorializing from the fresh air of Cincinnati, Isaac M. Wise observed: We are Americans and they are not. We are Israelites of the nineteenth century in a free country, and they gnaw the bones of past centuries.… The good reputation of Judaism must naturally suffer materially, which must without fail lower our social status.
 * Sachar, Howard M. (2013-07-24). A History of the Jews in America (Vintage) (Kindle Locations 2744-2752). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.**