Recently, my congregation’s lay leadership voted to permit its clergy to officiate at marriages between a Jewish individual and a partner from another background (with some important conditions), if and when the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly and the Cantorial Assembly … Continue reading
Of all the enemies our ancestors faced in antiquity, perhaps none were more fearsome than the Assyrians. Around 900 BCE, Assyria began to conquer much of what was at the time the known world. The empire Assyria built stretched from … Continue reading
What would it look like for synagogues to truly meet people where they are? Lessons from God and Wall Drug. Continue reading
My name is Michael Knopf. I grew up at a Conservative synagogue; I spent my summers at Camp Ramah in New England, a Conservative movement camp; as a teen, I was president of my Atlanta chapter of United Synagogue Youth, … Continue reading
Over the past few years, I had been trying to pass a teshuvah (Jewish legal opinion) in the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards arguing that Jewish law insists we must not patronize businesses that abuse their workers. The paper … Continue reading
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can … Continue reading
The Tisch