Reb Barry's Dvar Torah

Shelach Lecha 5763
by Rabbi Dr. Barry Leff

We all know that when our ancestors fled Egypt, they wandered in the desert for 40 years before being allowed to enter the land of Israel.

This week’s parsha tells us the story of WHY it took 40 years to get to Israel. Contrary to a popular story, it’s NOT because the men were in charge and they refused to ask for directions. Rather, the reason our ancestors had to wander the desert for 40 years was because of a difference in perception. A difference in how one group viewed reality versus how another group viewed reality.

What we learn from this week’s parsha is that a group of 12 leaders of Israel was sent on a mission to spy out the land of Israel and come back with a report. The facts are not in dispute. All 12 spies came back saying that the fruit was incredible, it really was a land flowing with milk and honey. All 12 agreed that there were some powerful residents there.

Given the same set of facts, one group—the larger group, a group of 10—said the situation is hopeless. The people are giants, the cities are fortified we’ll never succeed. Two of the 12 – Joshua and Calev – said, “Let’s go! We can surely do it!” The voice of the ten drowned out the voice of the two. The people were terrified by the report of the ten, and decided they must be right, we could never conquer this land. The two groups agree on the facts—but because of a difference in interpretation of the facts, they lost faith, and God decreed that the entire faithless generation would need to die out in the desert—and 40 years of wandering were set into motion.

Today I would like to discuss another situation where there is wide agreement on the facts, but a big difference in how we interpret those facts. That question is about the future of Conservative Judaism.

I’ve recently had a debate with some colleagues on whether Conservative Judaism is a failed experiment – or the wave of the future. Before we jump into looking at that big question, I’d like to ask a simple question: do you consider yourself a Conservative Jew, or just someone who happens to go to a Conservative synagogue? Why?

Before we go to the question of whether Conservative Judaism is a failed experiment or the wave of the future, we should understand what is the reality underlying this difference in perception.

To start with, some of you who didn’t respond to the above question might not have responded because it’s not completely clear to you what Conservative Judaism is or what Conservative Judaism stands for. That’s actually quite understandable. Conservative Judaism is a pluralistic movement—we have many different kinds of synagogues in the fold, some that are almost Orthodox in their practice, some that are almost Reform. Picking out what Conservative Judaism stands for can be a difficult at times. What is it that makes a synagogue Conservative? How are our beliefs and practices different than other denominations?

The fundamental differences between the movements are in views on revelation and views on halakha. What happened at Mt. Sinai? And the implications of that event on our Jewish practice. Most Orthodox Jews subscribe (at least publicly) to what they call “Torah miSinai.” The entire Torah came from Mt. Sinai. Moses took dictation and wrote down the words of God. Every word in the Torah is literally what God told Moses, with the possible exception of the last few words of Devarim which record the death of Moses, which some say were written by Joshua. At the other extreme, most Reform Jews would say that the Torah was written by people, over a long period of time, it represents a storehouse of wisdom of the Jewish people. My own belief, which is probably not uncommon among Conservative rabbis, is somewhere in between. I believe that there is something divine and holy at the core of the Torah, but those holy words were filtered through the eyes of people of their day and age, and were subject to later editing—Torah in a way is a partnership between Man and God. If God were to come back today and talk to one of us the same way She talked to Moses, the message would come out a little different because we live in a different time and place than Moses and our “filters” are different. Furthermore, Revelation is an ongoing process, not a one shot event that happened at Mt. Sinai and that’s it. By study and effort, we can discern God’s will.

Those different theologies are reflected in practice. The Orthodox take a strict approach to Jewish law, and change only very slowly. There are no women rabbis, women are generally not allowed to lead services or read Torah, etc. The Reform take a very liberal approach to Jewish law—the ritual commandments are a path to connection with God, but not viewed as absolute commandments. Reform Jews are free to pick and choose which mitzvot speak to them, and how to fulfill them. Conservative Judaism again is in between: we believe that mitzvah means commandment, not suggestion, but our rabbis are open to searching for ways to keep our tradition viable and part of the world around us, not isolated from the world around us.

Some of the traits of Conservative Judaism are that it is pluralistic—each rabbi is the halachic decision maker for his or her community. Some will say it is OK to drive to shul on Shabbat, others might say no. Some will say you can use electricity on Shabbat, others might say no. Some will say cheese does not need a hecksher, others will say it does. Most Conservative synagogues are egalitarian—but not all. Conservative Judaism was founded on a commitment to halacha, and on a belief that this approach could make Judaism “real” for America. The first real Conservative institution, the Jewish Theological Seminary, was NOT founded to be the start of a new movement—its original goal was to be the leading institution of learning for everyone who was not Reform.

So that’s a little bit of what Conservative Judaism is about. Here’s what our “spies” saw when they went out looked out at the landscape of Conservative Judaism:

·         The number of Conservative Jews who follow halacha to the standards of the movement is quite small. Here at Beth Tikvah we have a good number of families who keep kosher; most of those families probably do something to mark Shabbat—light candles or share a Shabbos dinner—but there is a much MUCH smaller number who observe Shabbat according to Conservative halacha; probably an even smaller number that puts on tallis and tefillin every morning, or women who go to the mikveh every month – all things that are expected of Conservative Jews just as much as they are expected of Orthodox Jews.

·         What this says is the gap between theory and practice in Conservative Judaism is much larger than either in Orthodoxy or Reform. The Orthodox expectations regarding obeying commandments is similar to the Conservative—but a much higher percentage of Orthodox Jews actually live their life that way. Reform has removed the gap between theory and practice by having a theory that says whatever you do is OK.

·         The religious practices of the Conservative rabbis and perhaps a small “elite” are very different than practices of most members. In actual practice the religious observance level of most members of Conservative shuls seems to be not much different than would be typical for members of Reform synagogues.

·         Despite nearly 100 years of trying, we have largely failed to create observant Conservative communities.

·         On the other side, the Orthodox world seems to be “discovering” some approaches similar to ones taken by the Conservative movement 50 years ago in addressing issues such as women reading from the Torah, or how to prevent agunot, women who are “anchored” to husbands who refuse to grant them a get, a religious divorce, after a civil divorce.

Those are the facts. How do we understand them? Is Conservative Judaism really the movement for Reform Jews who like a more traditional service with more Hebrew? The Reform movement is moving toward a more traditional service and more traditional forms of observance. The most recent statement of values of the Reform movement encourages Reform Jews to keep kosher and to observe the Sabbath. Many Reform Jews now wear a kippa and a tallis in shul, which for some communities represents a big change. As Reform starts looking more traditional, is there a continued rationale for Conservative Judaism to be a separate movement? Or should we simply merge with Reform, and enjoy the cost savings of eliminating a large bureaucracy, as well as tapping into their energy and commitment to social action?

On the other hand, in some places there is a resurgence of interest in spirituality. Not just in the Jewish world—it’s a phenomenon in the world around us. I talk to spiritual seekers all the time, both Jews and non-Jews. There are probably more people looking for God now than there were twenty years ago. Part of that may be due to the aging of the baby boom—as people in their 50s start having to deal with aging and dying parents, some of them start to ask questions about the meaning of life.

Conservative Judaism presents an ideal option for modern religious seekers. The vision of Judaism presented by Orthodoxy is seen by many seekers as stifling. To go from an egalitarian world, where women can do anything including run countries into a religious world where women are shut off from many forms of religious practice is not fulfilling to a lot of seekers. Reform Judaism often doesn’t have the commitment and passion that spiritual seekers want. If mitzvah means suggestion, not commandment, how do you figure out what to do? What does that say about your relationship with God and community?

The balance that Conservative Judaism represents—a balance between taking religion seriously and understanding God as our Creator who demands certain things of us on the one hand, with a sensitivity to the times and a willingness to adapt on the other, is one that I believe is very attractive and truly speaks to our times. The fact that even the Orthodox are starting to adapt some of the ideas we pioneered is further support for the notion that some of these changes are inevitable if Judaism is to thrive and prosper. The vision of the founders of the movement was right. We can make Judaism real for people in the modern world with our commitment to balancing “tradition and change.”

Many Conservative communities might not be that observant—yet—but one very positive thing I’ve seen is a real hunger for Jewish learning. Here at Beth Tikvah our adult education classes are very well attended. The Talmud class attracts a significant percentage of the people at shul on a non-simcha Shabbos. My convert class is growing every month.

There’s a story I heard from my colleague Rabbi Arthur Lavinsky. A man approached the rabbi of the town to which he was moving. He said, “Rabbi, the people from my old village were foolish and petty, unkind and unfriendly. How are the people here?” The Rabbi responded “I guess that you will probably find the people here to be much the same.”

Later that day, another man from a different town came to the same rabbi and asked, “Rabbi, I come from a town of wonderful caring people, people who study and perform Mitzvot. What can I expect of the people here?” The rabbi responded, “I guess that you will probably find the people here to be much the same.”

As someone who spent much of his career in marketing, there are people who will tell you that perception is more important than reality. The really good people in marketing, however, will tell you that perception IS reality.

My perception of the Conservative movement is “wave of the future.” What’s yours?

Shabbat Shalom,