V. ESTUDIO DEL RECURSO VEGETACIÓN Y SU INTERRELACIÓN CON EL SUELO
5.4. DISCUSIÓN
As the movement in the ideological center of American Judaism, Conservative Judaism seeks to
“conserve” Jewish traditions while living within the modern world. Rabbi Mordecai Waxman cap-tured the challenge of Conservative Judaism in the title of his book Tradition and Change—the Conservative Jew tries to balance the demands of modern times with a commitment to Jewish observance. Conservative Judaism also embraces the critical study of Jewish and secular texts along with traditional methods of study. The underlying assumption is that all resources are permitted in the pursuit of “truth.”
Conservative Judaism finds its roots in 19th-century GERMANY. Zachariah FRANKEL, once a more traditional voice within REFORM JUDAISM, became the leader of what would one day become the Conservative movement. He felt that the Reform movement was pushing change too fast, without reference to the community or to histori-cal precedent. In 1854 he became the head of the first Conservative rabbinical school, The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau. The Seminary taught and lived according to what became known as the POSITIVE-HISTORICALSCHOOLof Judaism; the idea was to pay close attention to historical prece-dent and to the hearts and minds of the commu-nity whenever considering any proposed reform.
By 1887 the American Conservative move-ment had also set up a seminary—the JEWISHTHE
-OLOGICALSEMINARY OFAMERICA(JTS) in New York.
The school began with eight students under the leadership of Rabbis Alexander Kohut and Sabato MORAIS. Neither the seminary nor the Conserva-K 98 consecration
tive movement flourished until a group of Reform Jews, including Cyrus ADLER, Jacob SCHIFF, and Louis MARSHALL, came on board; they wanted to create a middle ground between Reform and ORTHODOX JUDAISM that might appeal to the mil-lions of eastern European Jewish immigrants arriving on American shores. They believed the seminary could help in the AMERICANIZATION of the new immigrants, allowing them to find a com-fortable place within American Judaism while shedding their old-country customs, which embarrassed the already acculturated German Jews in the Reform world. The JTS was able to cre-ate role models for eastern European Jews that allowed them to preserve much of their traditional Jewish lifestyle and still become part of American society. In 1902 the widely respected Solomon SCHECHTER, reader in rabbinics at Cambridge Uni-versity in ENGLAND, arrived at the seminary, and the success of Conservative Judaism was assured.
Conservative Jews stress that Judaism has evolved historically to meet the changing needs of the Jewish people in various eras and circum-stances. They believe that Jewish law should con-tinue to evolve in the present and future.
Nevertheless, Conservative Judaism maintains the traditional view that Jews must obey and observe the will of God through the commandments. The movement also puts great emphasis on the Jewish people—Klal Yisrael, the totality of Israel.
Schechter, who helped to firmly establish the JTS as the predominant school for Conservative rab-bis, was well known for his teachings on this con-cept. He posited that Jewish legal decisions are largely grounded on the common practice of observant Jews of the time.
To ensure conformity to these practices, the Conservatives set up a central authority for
HALAKHAH, Jewish law, called the Committee on Jew-ish Law and Standards (CJLS). It consists of schol-ars appointed by the JTS, the Rabbinical Assembly (RA, consisting of all affiliated Conservative rab-bis), and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ, made up of lay representatives of all Conservative synagogues). The CJLS often
pub-lishes both majority and minority positions on con-troversial matters of Jewish law. Individual rabbis serve as the mara d’atra (Aramaic for “master of the law”) for their own communities, and are free to follow the legal rulings as they see fit.
Nevertheless, Conservative rabbis are expected to support certain declared standards of the move-ment. These standards have been approved by votes of at least 80 percent of the membership of the CJLS, and a majority of Rabbinical Assembly members. At present, there are four standards: 1) Rabbis and cantors are prohibited from officiating at intermarriages in any way; 2) rabbis may not perform remarriages if the previous partner is alive without an acceptable GET (Jewish divorce) or haf’kaat kidushin (annulment); 3) Jewish lineage is determined by matrilineal descent only; and 4) conversions to Judaism require both circumcision (see BRIT MILAH) and MIKVAH immersion for males and mikvah immersion for females. A Conservative rabbi who willfully violates these standards may be forced to resign or be expelled by the Rabbinical Assembly.
Conservative Judaism maintains that the TORAH is of divine origin; however, there is debate within the movement as to how it was authored. Some Conservative rabbis assert that God directly wrote the Torah, some that the Torah was divinely inspired, and yet others that human beings wrote the Torah based on their understanding of God’s will, and that their writ-ings were accepted as the social contract for the Jewish people. In any case, the Conservative movement has always in principle believed that halakhah, though open to scholarly interpreta-tion, is binding on every Jew.
Many American Jews affiliate with Conserva-tive Judaism because they desire a satisfactory home “in between” Orthodox and Reform. Often Conservative Rabbis find themselves in the dis-tinct minority in their own congregations regard-ing their level of Jewish observance. Conservative rabbis, and Conservative Judaism at large, are con-stantly working to raise the level of Jewish educa-tion and observance among their lay membership.
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Conservative Judaism supports many institu-tions. Synagogues that affiliate with the movement become members of an umbrella organization called United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (for many years known as the United Synagogue of America). The group offers guidelines and instruc-tions to member synagogues. Rabbis who graduate from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, which has branches in New York and ARGENTINA, may join a professional group called the Rabbinical Assembly, which serves as both a professional union and a forum for study.
Further reading: Daniel J. Elazar, and Rela Mintz Gef-fen, The Conservative Movement in Judaism: Dilemmas and Opportunities (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2000); Neil Gillman, Conservative Judaism:
The New Century (Springfield, N.J.: Behrman House Publishing, 1993); Robert Gordis, Emet Ve-Emunah:
Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism (New York: United Synagogue Book Service, 1988); Mordecai Waxman, ed., Tradition and Change (New York: Burning Bush Press, 1958); Jack Wertheimer, Jews in the Center:
Conservative Synagogues and Their Members (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2002).
conversion
Conversion to Judaism, which is open to people of any religious or ethnic background, means that the convert adopts the religious faith of Abraham and Sarah (see MATRIARCHS; PATRIARCHS) and becomes a full-fledged member of the Jewish peo-ple. Converts are called gerim, which is a biblical word that means “sojourners,” but their status in Jewish law is no different from that of any other Jew (although they can never be KOHANIM or LEVITES).
Jews who convert to other faiths are called meshumadim, or “destroyers,” implying that they have destroyed their faith, and that their actions, if imitated, would destroy Judaism.
Historically, Judaism since biblical days encouraged conversion to the Jewish faith, espe-cially by people who had previously been
idol-worshippers. The biblical paradigm for conver-sion was RUTH, the Moabite woman whose story is recorded in the Book of Ruth in the TANAKH, the Hebrew Bible. Ruth has remained celebrated for her declaration to her widowed ISRAELITE mother-in-law: “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you, for wherever you go, I will go;
wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ru 1:16).
This utterance is considered to have been her act of conversion to Judaism.
Ruth demonstrates the foreigner’s ability to adopt the Jewish God, Jewish laws, and the Jewish people. Her embrace of Judaism is recounted on SHAVUOT, the holiday celebrating the moment that the Jews received the TORAHfrom God. The Bible also states that Ruth’s merit in converting to the Jewish faith would be rewarded. She would become the great grandmother to King DAVID, from whose seed the Messiah will come, accord-ing to Jewish tradition.
While Ruth has always been beloved by Jews as the exemplar of conversion, Judaism has had an ambivalent attitude toward actively pursuing converts ever since the rise of CHRISTIANITY. Jews, often themselves victims of aggressive and some-times violent proselytizing by other faiths, cre-ated legal provisions that discouraged non-Jews from rapid conversions. They are expected first to study their own faith, then the faith of others, and only after that to study for Jewish conversion.
After this, a non-Jew who still insists of his or her own free will on becoming Jewish is accepted for Torah training and converted by a rabbinical court, after undergoing immersion in a MIKVAH, or ritual bath, and, in the case of men, BRITMILAH, or ritual circumcision.
Judaism teaches that a convert’s status is equal to one born Jewish, and in fact a Jew is forbidden to refer to another Jew as a convert. ORTHODOX
JUDAISM demands that potential converts strictly observe all laws and undergo serious learning about religious practices before the conversion can take place. CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM insists on the same training and conversion rituals, but it K 100 conversion
requires only a general commitment to Jewish tra-ditional observance. REFORMJUDAISMvaries among rabbis and congregations in their educational and ritual demands on converts; as a result, many non-Reform Jews question the Jewish status of non-Reform converts. The status of non-Orthodox converts has sparked an ongoing debate in the State of ISRAEL, and the Orthodox political parties have tried to change Israeli law to recognize only Orthodox converts in Israel or abroad as Jews.
American rabbis do not actively recruit candi-dates for conversion; however, when faced with a Jew who is determined to marry a non-Jew, most will agree to prepare the potential spouse to embrace Judaism to ensure that the new home remains attached to the Jewish faith.
Jews who convert to another faith are still rec-ognized as part of the Jewish people, but are consid-ered apostates in a state of semi-excommunication from the community, and they cannot be counted in a MINYAN(prayer quorum). However, if they later reject their apostasy they resume their legal status as full Jews.
Further reading: Allan L. Berkowitz and Patti Moskovitz, Embracing the Covenant: Converts to Judaism Talk About Why & How (Woodstock, Vt.: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1996); Lydia Kukoff, Choosing Judaism (Cincinnati, Ohio: UAHC Press, 1981); Julius Lester, Lovesong: Becoming a Jew (New York: Arcade Publish-ing, 1988).
Conversos
Conversos were Jews (mostly Spanish or Por-tuguese) who had converted to CHRISTIANITY
under threat of death, confiscation of property, or expulsion, but who privately still considered themselves Jews and practiced some Jewish rituals in secret.
The Roman Catholic Church under Pope Inno-cent III (1198–1216) launched the Inquisition to fight against perceived heretics within the church.
The Inquisition authorities would use any means to elicit confessions from suspected heretics; those
who recanted might be welcomed back to the church; others were turned over to the civil authorities for punishment, often execution. By 1255 the Inquisition had spread to most of central and Western Europe with the exception of EN
-GLAND. While the Inquisition did not technically have legal authority to persecute Judaism itself, any Jew who had converted came under their purview and could be investigated on suspicion of practicing Judaism, and any Jews who had not converted could be investigated for undermining the Christian faith of converts.
The church called the secret Jews Conversos.
In Spain they were popularly referred to as Marra-nos, or “swine.” This pejorative was used by Catholics as well as by those Jews who had refused to convert. Historians today often use a third term, Crypto-Jews.
A significant Converso population lived in SPAIN. Beginning in 1481 Spain targeted both Jews and Conversos with an intense series of Inquisi-tions led by Tomás de Torquemada, the inquisitor-general. In Seville, approximately 700 Conversos were burned at the stake, though another 5,000 were allowed to openly repent and embrace the church. Additional burnings of Conversos took place in Aragon, Catalonia, Ciudad Real, Toledo, and ultimately Barcelona, which had the largest number of Conversos. More than 13,000 Conver-sos were tried during the Spanish Inquisition. In 1492 all Jews and Conversos were expelled from Spain. By that time, the majority of Conversos had either assimilated into the Christian commu-nities or had returned to normative Jewish prac-tices, usually in countries of refuge like Turkey or the Netherlands. It is not uncommon for a mod-ern family of Spanish or Portuguese heritage in those countries or in the Americas to discover their Jewish roots after generations of practicing Christianity.
Further reading: Jane S. Gerber, The Jews of Spain: A His-tory of the Sephardic Experience (New York: Free Press, 1992); David M. Gitlitz, Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Crypto-Jews (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Conversos 101 J
Society, 1996); B. Netanyahu, The Origins of the Inquisi-tion in Fifteenth-Century Spain (New York: New York Review of Books, 2001); Norman Roth, Conversos, Inqui-sition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain (Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1995).
Cordovero, Moses
(1522–1570) mystic Moses (in HEBREW, Moshe) Cordovero was a renowned practitioner of KABBALAH, Jewish MYSTI-CISM. He headed the Portuguese YESHIVAin SAFED, the center of Jewish mysticism in ISRAEL during his lifetime. Cordovero’s philosophical works cre-ated the primary models for later Kabbalism and HASIDISM.
Cordovero was apparently born in Safed to a family of Spanish origin. He is believed to have studied with the legalist Joseph CARO. His most important work was Pardes Rimmonim (Krakow, 1592), which discusses the divine nature, theod-icy, the cosmos, humanity, and the worship of God. It also illuminates the parable of fire and the spheres, later treated in his great work Or Yaqur.
The primary Kabbalistic topics, such as the Ein Sof and the SEFIROT, aspects of the divine, are well detailed in Cordovero’s books. He also wrote com-mentaries on Jewish liturgy and a final book on his personal mystical endeavors.
Cordevero believed that the study and practice of Jewish mysticism would help to speed up God’s
REDEMPTIONof the Jewish people. To that end, he emphasized that a Jew was to pray daily with
KAVANAH, or devotion. Cordovero was ultimately concerned with how the human soul related to God; his works were all aimed at building and improving that relationship. Cordovero and his peers were probably responsible for the imple-mentation of the Kabbalat Shabbat liturgy, which welcomes the SHABBATqueen and is still recited in most synagogues at Friday evening services.
Further reading: Moses Cordovero, The Palm Tree of Deborah (New York: Hermon Press, 1974); Lawrence Fine, Safed Spirituality: Rules of Mystical Piety, the Begin-ning of Wisdom (New York: Paulist Press, 1984).