I can't say that it came as a surprise to hear that an
uproar resulted in some circles from my recent article in
Moment Magazine showing how the Conservative
movement's theology is at stark odds with its actions, and
calling on members of its laity to reevaluate their
identification with a movement faithful to Jewish religious
law (halacha) in name alone. But the angry and oddly
personal nature of the response thus far from Conservative
leaders, not to mention their studious avoidance of the very
real issues I raised, was unexpected. It is also very sad,
and telling.
Part of the animus is due, perhaps, to the unfortunately
incendiary title the magazine gave my piece. Instead of my
own choice, "Time To Come Home," Moment decided to
crown the article with a large, bold banner headline
reading: "The Conservative Lie." [Note: In Yated it
was entitled "As Conservatism Crumbles."]
All the same, the piece itself is, admittedly, provocative,
laying out as it does not only examples of the blatantly
agenda-driven "halachic process" of the Conservative
movement but open admission of the same by a number of
Conservative leaders.
My purpose, though, was not provocation for provocation's
sake, but to generate honest and serious introspection among
my fellow Jews who affiliate with the Conservative
movement.
Introspection, however, does not appear to be on the
Conservative leadership's agenda.
"A nasty diatribe" is how Rabbi Alan Silverstein, president
of the World Council of Masorti/Conservative Synagogues,
characterized my article, which is neither remotely nasty
nor diatribe. "Let us," he announces hopefully, "marginalize
strident voices like that of Avi Shafran."
"Does [Rabbi Shafran] really think that the masses of
Conservative Jews are going to . . . run out and join his
little shtibl?" mocks Rabbi Jerome Epstein, executive
vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism, who also accuses me of hypocrisy for having dared
critique his movement while claiming at the same time to
care about Jewish unity.
Rabbi Steven Bayar, of Congregation Bnei Israel in Millburn,
New Jersey, renders his own judgment that by writing what I
did, I must be trying to make myself "look good by making
others look bad." He then confidently declares that I surely
have not brought as many Jews closer to our tradition as he
has. He then goes on to reassure readers of the New
Jersey Jewish News that he simply will not allow the
evidence laid out in my article to bother him. "I'm not
going to lose sleep over it," he says contentedly. "I
consider the source and I don't expect anything
different."
For his part, Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president of
the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly, sees in my
having raised substantive issues and presented serious
questions about Conservative decisions that my claim to be
an "ohev Yisrael," one who loves fellow Jews, is
clearly nothing but a "guise."
Though all the intemperate reactions are disturbing, that
last assertion carries particular irony. Because ahavas
Yisroel is precisely why I wrote my piece.
Consider a family, which is precisely how all we Jews are to
view ourselves. Were one to witness a beloved family member
being misled -- even by another member of the clan -- about,
say, a financial investment or a medical course of action,
what would true familial love and concern dictate? Ignoring
the situation? Pretending it didn't exist?
What any caring, concerned parent or child or sibling or
cousin would do, of course, is address the less-informed
relative, calmly and clearly, and lay out the pertinent
facts and dangers. Indeed, the closer the relation, the more
urgent the effort to provide the loved one with accurate
information. And if the threat was to something even greater
than finances or physical health, the response would be
proportionately forthright.
While some, like Rabbi Bayar, may choose to not let the
facts bother them, they are nevertheless clear: The
Conservative movement -- which tells Jews sincerely
interested in observing Jewish religious law that
halacha permits, among other things, traveling by car
on the Sabbath, mixed-seating at prayer, marriages forbidden
by the Torah and acceptance of homosexual relations as an
acceptable alternative lifestyle -- baldly misrepresents
both the letter and spirit of the Jewish religious
heritage.
Now, I could certainly keep that observation private,
convince myself that politeness trumps truth here, that no
one will likely listen anyway, and that speaking up simply
isn't worth the resultant rain of animus and insults from
offended Jewish leaders. But I chose -- and choose -- to
dispense with convenient excuses and act from something
deeper: my love and concern for my precious fellow Jews.
Many of them, egged on by their leaders, may indeed reject
my words and choose to ignore the evidence, but that affords
me no moral basis for withholding vital truths, no matter
how uncomfortable they might be.
Were all the Conservative movement's leaders (rather than
those I quoted in my article alone) to admit, as have Reform
leaders, that they simply do not consider halacha
binding, I would hardly be happy with the presentation to
Jews of an "ahalachic" religious option. They would be
guilty, to be sure, of attempting to change the nature of
Judaism, but not of misrepresenting what they are doing.
When, however, some Conservative leaders tell their
congregants -- my precious brothers and sisters -- that they
can be fully assured that the movement of their affiliation
is truly faithful to the halachic method, I cannot in good
conscience and concern for my fellow Jews simply allow the
blatant misrepresentation to stand unchallenged.
When Catholics and Protestants, or Sunnis and Shi'ites,
present mutually exclusive perspectives on the legacy of
Christianity or Islam, I will not get involved, because the
protagonists are not my flesh and blood. But when the Jewish
religious heritage is twisted, I do not feel I can afford
the luxury of "hey-who-cares-anyway pluralism" -- not if
there is true ahavas Yisrael in my heart. My family's
soul and future are at stake.
Rabbi Epstein may be right that most Conservative Jews will
not likely be spurred by my article to embrace
halacha (what he means, presumably, by my
"shtibl"). But if even one Jew indeed comes to
realize that halacha is not Silly Putty, that we Jews
are here to do G-d's will, not to ascribe our own wills to
Him, it will have been well worth all the anger and insults
of outraged Conservative rabbis.
I personally know many once-Conservative (and Reform, and
secular) Jews who are now fully and happily halacha-
observant. I've even written a biography -- Migrant Soul:
The Story of an American Ger (Targum/Feldheim) -- of two
such people, a once-secular Jewish feminist and her then-non-
Jewish, mixed-race husband.
They and others like them were also told for years to
marginalize the Orthodox perspective, and to ignore evidence
like the facts I cited in Moment. But they had the
temerity to not listen, and instead explored. Sampling
Orthodox books and tapes and websites, entering Orthodox
shuls and homes (yes, Rabbi Bayar, not a few of them my own
home), they encountered not only warmth and love, but Jewish
consistency in the form of uncompromising dedication to
halacha. In time, they came to objectively regard
both the facts of history and the Orthodox community, and
realized that their personal Jewish futures -- as well as
the collective Jewish Future -- are entirely dependent on
honest and selfless engagement with the fullness of the
Jewish past.
My detractors are free to imagine what they like about me,
free to vilify me if it helps them sleep soundly at night.
But it was out of deep concern and love for all the sincere
and trusting Conservative Jews who have not yet considered
the facts about their movement and halacha that I
penned my Moment piece.
I pray with all my heart that they be strong and honest,
that they not let some Jewish leaders' ugly words prevent
them from actually weighing, and acting on, those facts.
I pray, in other words, that they come to realize, despite
all the noise and anger and umbrage-taking, that Jewish
words like "Torah" and "halacha," have historical meanings,
and that it is indeed time to come home.
Am Echad Resources: Rabbi Avi Shafran serves as director
of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America and as
American director of Am Echad.
