The Conservative movement – Ask the Rabbi
Q. Following your recent answer about Orthodoxy and Reform, what about the Conservatives?
A. Let me again emphasise cordiality and courtesy between all Jews. Now as to your question: criticism of Reform as a non-halachic movement does not necessarily apply to Conservatism, which is far more traditionalist. But Conservatism allows itself to interpret halachah in ways which do not conform with halachic norms. It is not a matter of leniency as against strictness, since halachah encompasses a range of possibilities, but of “shifting the landmarks” (Deut. 19:14).
