Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism (also known as Masorti Judaism outside of America) is a denomination of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s. Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism, developed in 1850s Germany as a reaction to the more liberal religious positions taken by Reform Judaism. The term conservative was meant to signify that Jews should attempt to conserve Jewish tradition, rather than reform or abandon it, and not the movement's adherents are politically conservative. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha within Conservative Judaism. It is one of the most active and widely known committees in the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. Sadly, today the Committee is corrupted by liberal Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff. He and his followers have allowed homosexuals to be ordained as Rabbis.

## Israel[edit]

The first Masorti communities in the State of Israel were founded in 1979 by North American olim. The movement now has some 50 congregations in Israel, with a membership of approximately 50,000,[1] and its progams reach some 125,000 each year. In addition to its kehillot and chavurot maintains a kibbutz (Kibbutz Hanaton), a moshav (Moshav Shorashim), Native Israelis and olim from non-English speaking countries now make up about 60% of the Israeli Masorti population, the remaining 40% are North American olim.[2] The movement is supported by the Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel, an American organization which provides funding to Masorti programs.

## References[edit]

* [3]
* An intro to Conservative Judaism
* Standards for Congregational Practice
* The Core Principles of Conservative Judaism
* Conservative Jews in Israel
* Formulating Jewish Law For Our Time
* A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice – Official work on Jewish law