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| USY teenagers ;preparing for an upcoming event (JTA) |
Conservative Judaism was in fact founded as a sort of Kiruv movement. The goal of their founders was to reach out to Jews who had to work on Shabbos in order to keep their jobs - and keep them as observant as possible by welcoming them into their Shuls where they could have some influence on them.
Although founded as a result of what has come to be known as the Treif banquet served at their ‘Chag Semicha’ - they had a noble goal that accompanied that founding. They believed that American Jews would be better served by American trained rabbis who understood American culture. To that end they chose to be trained by the Reform Hebrew Union College.
But they were shocked at being served Treif food and decided to form their own movement. One that would be Halachic but would also be more attuned to American culture than the European rabbis that constituted the pulpits of most Orthodox Shuls in America back then. And that American trained rabbis would be more tolerant of the non observant more assimilated American Jew.
Their intent was noble but in the long run badly mistaken. We all know what has happened to Conservative Judaism since then. In their effort to keep non observant Jews close to their Shuls they looked the other way with respect to the Halachic observance of their members. In fact their leadership now admits that one of their biggest mistakes was permitting their members to drive to Shul on Shabbos. They then figured that since their laity was driving anyway, they may as well drive to Shul.
Their ‘Heter’ was supposed to be only for that purpose so that they would have some connection to Judaism. The Conservative laity took that as a blanket permit to drive anywhere they wished on Shabbos. (Orthodox Judaism does not allow driving anywhere under any circumstances on Shabbos other than for Pikuach Nefesh – when a life is at stake.)
Today there is no practical difference between Reform and Conservative Jewish laity. Although there are some observant Conservative Jews (by their standards) the vast majority are not observant of Halacha at all. Even as many of them still enjoy the cultural aspects of things like a Pesach Seder.
This sad reality is why there is an over 75% intermarriage rate among non Orthodox Jews. I think it is safe to say that - to their chagrin - the Conservative rabbinate is quite unhappy about this and trying desperately to do something about it.
One of the things they are trying to do is to nip the problem in the bud by reaching out to their youth. To that end they have a youth program for teenagers called USY. This is where they try and motivate young people to take more pride in their Judaism and to teach them a bit more about what that means. Which I assume includes some level of observance.. Which is a lot easier to do in a context of a fun environment filled with peers - all having a good time. But as an article in JTA notes, that too is failing:
For decades now, Conservative Judaism has seen their numbers fall as members flock to other denominations like Reform and the United States becomes increasingly less religious... (Once) the largest Jewish denomination. Now, only 15% of American Jews identify as Conservative, according to the Pew Research Center.
With Conservative numbers on the decline, United Synagogue Youth is struggling to stay on its feet. Julie Marder, the interim senior director of teen engagement, was open about the organization’s membership struggles. “Coming out of the pandemic, numbers just weren’t where they used to be,” Marder said. “They were lower than we can continue to sustain.”
While the membership decline predated the pandemic, COVID undid a lot of their work to gain back members.
It shouldn’t be all that difficult to explain why this happened. Trying to motivate young people to remain loyal to Jewish values begins in the home. When those values are ignored by parents, a youth group can do little to change attitudes. When the attitudes of young people are formed by their non observant assimilated parents, their peers, and the American assimilationist culture... telling them to stop using technology one day a week when their parents and all of their friends do will not fly.
This is yet another nail in the coffin of heterodox Judaism. But as I started out saying, there are a lot of Conservative rabbis that actually do care about the future of American Jewry. They are honest about what they see, and want to do something about it.
I am aware of some idealistic Conservative rabbis that are not embarrassed to turn to the far more successful youth groups like Orthodoxy’s NCSY. Not that NCSY is successful with every single secular Jewish teen that is part of their program. Many (most?) NCSYers probably do not become observant. It’s really hard to break a habit one is used to from their home and from their parents example. But the percentage of those that do is astounding compared to USY. Those Conservative rabbis consider NCSY’s success their own. Rightfully so.
I realize that the Conservative movement is not quite yet ready to abandon their own youth group. I’m sure that there will continue to be a mighty push to regenerate the numbers of the past. I certainly can’t blame them for that. But what they have been doing is not working, Their numbers are going in the wrong direction.
It would be a great contribution to their effort to keep American Jews Jewish if they turn their attention to NCSY and start funneling as may teenagers as they can convince to join.
One final note. While it is true that I am a Nogei’ah B’Davr in the sense that my son-in-law is the head of NCSY, I was a fan of that organization long before I ever met him. And now that I see what he has done with it, I am a bigger fan than ever. And for sincere Conservative rabbis, so too should they be. NCSY is thriving! And they will continue to expand to fill any future need.