| By occupying the middle ground between Reform and Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism emerged as the largest Jewish denomination in America in the twentieth century. The key to the movement's success was its ability to forge a religious option that both maintained a tie to the traditional universe of discourse of traditional Judaism--halacha or Jewish law--and allowed for adjustments to that system of law. This enabled the movement to remain viable in the face of Americanization and secularization. It was in this manner that Conservative Judaism met the needs of a constituency longing for tradition and authenticity as well as flexibility and adaptability. The dissertation studies the manner in which the elites of the Conservative movement steered this middle course from the arrival of Solomon Schechter to head the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1902 until the end of the administration of Louis Finkelstein in 1973.;The study found that, over time, it became increasingly difficult for the Conservatism to satisfy the broad coalition that comprised the ideological range of the movement. The coalition continued to function only because, despite very basic differences between contending wings of the movement, all subscribed to three general myths that served a variety of needs. These myths were: Conservative Judaism is halachic; halacha is developmental and can change; and Conservative Judaism is normative Judaism. While many events challenged the credibility of these myths, only the Reconstructionist wing of the movement ever decisively rejected the myths and, subsequently, created a fourth denomination. The remainder of the Conservative coalition continued to subscribe to the myths although the issue of women's ordination in the 1970s seems to threaten to topple the myth structure that has sustained Conservative Judaism to date. The changing values of American society, which Jews also reflect, increasingly came to conflict with the values of traditional Judaism. As the symbolic language of halacha becomes less and less able to bridge that gap, Conservative Judaism's key to legitimacy becomes ever more difficult to retain.;Primary sources for the study include convention proceedings and records of the Rabbinical Assembly, minutes of the law committee, ideological formulations by leaders of the Conservative movement, and personal interviews and papers. This information is placed in the context of American society and is compared with developments in the rival movements, Reform and Orthodoxy. Analysis of the research utilizes the literature on the sociology of religion. |
