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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 641

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism has been trying to chart a middle path between Jewish tradition and acceptance of the reality of interfaith families. (Stock photo/Burke/Triolo Productions via Getty Images via JTA)
July 3, 2025, 3:34 pm
In first, US Conservative synagogue allows clergy to participate in interfaith weddings
While the policy change at Adath Jeshurun, a large Minneapolis-area congregation, goes against rules set by the denomination, top leadership has refrained from condemning it
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz speaks at the institution's 131st commencement ceremony, May 22, 2025. (Ellen Rubin Photography via JTA)
June 19, 2025, 4:24 pm
Conservative flagship’s 1st woman chancellor, Shuly Rubin Schwartz, to step down in 2026
The outgoing head of the Jewish Theological Seminary since 2020 says she never intended a ‘lengthy tenure’ and will return to the faculty, where she has been serving since 1991
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie dressed in drag, as his alter-ego, the Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross, as seen in 'Sabbath Queen,' a film by Sandi DuBowski. (Courtesy)
February 8, 2025, 2:46 am
From radical drag queen to rabbi, film depicts journey of a Jewish law breaker
‘Sabbath Queen’ follows gay scion of rabbinic dynasty Amichai Lau-Lavie for two decades as he challenges traditional Judaism’s norms and becomes a respected communal leader
By Renee Ghert-Zand
Left: Conservative Rabbi Shalom Tzvi (Harry) Davidowitz (public domain); right: From right to left, Rabbi Mauricio Balter, executive director of Masorti Olami, Dr. Yizhar Hess, Rabbi Ashira Konigsberg, Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, look up at the street sign named for Shalom Tzvi (Harry) Davidowitz, Herzliya, December 11, 2024. (Herzliya Municipality)
December 15, 2024, 6:06 am
1st street in Israel named for Masorti rabbi who influenced Declaration of Independence
In Herzliya, the Conservative Movement celebrates the commemoration of US cleric Shalom Tzvi Davidowitz, who is likely responsible for adding God into the historic 1948 statement
By Mati Wagner
Conservative rabbis pray at the Ezrat Yisrael egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall, Thursday December 12, 2024. (Courtesy)
December 14, 2024, 3:12 pm
‘Hurting together’: Conservative Rabbis meet in Israel for first time since October 7
Rabbis from communities across North and South America, Europe, and Australia convene in Jerusalem to show solidarity and reflect on the lessons of October 7
By Zev Stub
B'nai Jeshurun, a synagogue on Manhattan's Upper West Side, in March 2022. (Noam Galai/Getty Images/JTA)
October 31, 2024, 7:11 pm
New York synagogue reveals sexual assault allegation against renowned late rabbi
Marshall T. Meyer led Upper West Side’s B’nai Jeshurun from 1985 to 1993; synagogue says allegations ‘credible,’ removing his name from rabbinic training program
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Joshua Leifer and his new book, "Tablets Shattered." (Courtesy/Dutton Publishing via JTA)
October 4, 2024, 8:55 am
What Matters Now to Joshua Leifer: The fall of US Jewry and how it can rise again
While a product of the Conservative movement, the left-wing journalist argues in a new book that ultra-Orthodoxy offers blueprint for ensuring that American Jewish life can thrive
By ToI Staff
An aerial view of American Jewish University's Sunny & Isadore Familian Campus in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Courtesy of Communications Department, AJU via JTA)
September 29, 2024, 5:11 am
Investigation clears Ziegler rabbinical school deans of ethics code allegations
Committee’s conclusion in line with findings of related investigation undertaken by law firm at behest of American Jewish University, completed earlier this year
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
The School of Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam, May 2022. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
September 22, 2024, 2:55 am
LA and Jerusalem rabbis tapped to support German rabbinical schools
Rabbis Bradley Shavit Artson, Yehodaya Amir set to lead seminaries associated with the University of Potsdam in a move criticized as endangering ‘the unity of the Jewish community’
By Toby Axelrod
Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, head rabbi of New York’s Park Avenue Synagogue, holding his new book, 'For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today,' September 11, 2024. (Courtesy)
September 13, 2024, 12:32 pm
What Matters Now to Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: What binds US Jews to Israel post-Oct. 7
New book by influential Conservative NY rabbi delves into the invisible thread that has tied the Jewish state to US Jewry – and how it could be snapped in the next generation
By ToI Staff
Yosef Kibita poses with his new Israeli passport. (Courtesy Masorti Movement in Israel)
August 17, 2024, 7:55 am
After 7-year legal battle, Uganda Jewish man finally gets Israeli citizenship
Interior Ministry approves the bid of Yosef Kibita from the Abayudaya community after four conversions and years of roadblocks
By Jackie Hajdenberg
A solar eclipse seen from Yunlin county, central Taiwan, on June 21, 2020. (Photo by Sam Yeh / AFP)
April 8, 2024, 6:41 pm
US Jews join eclipse-gazing throngs, as solar excitement blots out ancient fears
Synagogues set up viewing parties, with some rabbis saying Monday offers opportunity to say blessing for natural wonders, others that it is a time to reflect on majesty of nature
By JTA
A groom smashes the glass in a Jewish wedding, under the huppah (Mor Seban; iStock by Getty Images)
January 31, 2024, 8:39 pm
Conservative rabbis urged to engage with interfaith families, still can’t marry them
While a ban on officiating at intermarriages still stands, the movement is recommending an array of changes, from new rituals to updated hiring regulations, to increase inclusivity
By jacob gurvis
Cantor Sarah Freudenberger at a ketubah signing ceremony for an interfaith wedding she officiated in October 2023. (Courtesy Freudenberger via JTA)
January 8, 2024, 1:43 am
To welcome interfaith couples, US Conservative synagogue hires cantor who can wed them
While most clergy in the denomination aren’t allowed to perform interfaith weddings, Sarah Freudenberger’s temple takes advantage of a loophole to send an inviting message
By Gavi Klein
Conservative rabbis from across the United States surround Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin (center), whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, at the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, October 31, 2023. (Courtesy Fuchsberg Center)
November 3, 2023, 10:34 am
US rabbis make solidarity trip to Israel for firsthand experience of Hamas onlsaught
Group visits Ofakim and Be’eri, where terrorists killed more than 100 people, meet with parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin
By Eliyahu Freedman
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