Michael R. Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231156356
- eISBN:
- 9780231526777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231156356.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter focuses on events following Solomon Schechter's arrival in America in 1902. Schechter was recruited to transform the struggling Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) into a ...
More
This chapter focuses on events following Solomon Schechter's arrival in America in 1902. Schechter was recruited to transform the struggling Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) into a world-renowned center for scholarship. He shaped the new Seminary into an institution that came to be known simply as Schechter's Seminary. He also envisioned a unified American Judaism that would be both committed to tradition and would appeal to the children of immigrants. To implement his vision, he trained a diverse cadre of disciples, serving as not only a teacher and mentor to them but also as a father figure and friend. These personal relationships created a charismatic bond between master and disciple, overcoming the diversity within the group and ensuring that the disciples would endure great personal sacrifice to see Schechter's vision become reality. Their shared mission would be the first seed of a vague group consciousness, which was strengthened by the personal friendships and shared experiences amongst the disciples themselves. This vague group consciousness would later be institutionalized as the foundation of the Conservative movement.Less
This chapter focuses on events following Solomon Schechter's arrival in America in 1902. Schechter was recruited to transform the struggling Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) into a world-renowned center for scholarship. He shaped the new Seminary into an institution that came to be known simply as Schechter's Seminary. He also envisioned a unified American Judaism that would be both committed to tradition and would appeal to the children of immigrants. To implement his vision, he trained a diverse cadre of disciples, serving as not only a teacher and mentor to them but also as a father figure and friend. These personal relationships created a charismatic bond between master and disciple, overcoming the diversity within the group and ensuring that the disciples would endure great personal sacrifice to see Schechter's vision become reality. Their shared mission would be the first seed of a vague group consciousness, which was strengthened by the personal friendships and shared experiences amongst the disciples themselves. This vague group consciousness would later be institutionalized as the foundation of the Conservative movement.
Edward K. Kaplan
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300115406
- eISBN:
- 9780300137699
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300115406.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter discusses the time when Heschel joined the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary. By the end of June 1945, he had submitted his chapter, “The Mystical Element in Judaism,” for JTS ...
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This chapter discusses the time when Heschel joined the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary. By the end of June 1945, he had submitted his chapter, “The Mystical Element in Judaism,” for JTS president Finkelstein's edited volume The Jews: Their History, Culture, and Religion, explaining, “I had to confine myself to the Zohar in order to give the reader a somewhat comprehensive idea of one phase of Jewish mysticism.” In the following month, Heschel participated in the JTS alumni summer session, a symposium on the theme “My Faith as a Jew.” From that time forward, nuclear annihilation and the Holocaust became indelibly associated in Heschel's mind.Less
This chapter discusses the time when Heschel joined the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary. By the end of June 1945, he had submitted his chapter, “The Mystical Element in Judaism,” for JTS president Finkelstein's edited volume The Jews: Their History, Culture, and Religion, explaining, “I had to confine myself to the Zohar in order to give the reader a somewhat comprehensive idea of one phase of Jewish mysticism.” In the following month, Heschel participated in the JTS alumni summer session, a symposium on the theme “My Faith as a Jew.” From that time forward, nuclear annihilation and the Holocaust became indelibly associated in Heschel's mind.
Michael R. Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231156356
- eISBN:
- 9780231526777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231156356.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This introductory chapter first sets out the book's purpose, namely to explain the emergence of Conservative Judaism as the third movement in American Jewish life, after Orthodox and Reform, in the ...
More
This introductory chapter first sets out the book's purpose, namely to explain the emergence of Conservative Judaism as the third movement in American Jewish life, after Orthodox and Reform, in the first half of the twentieth century. By focusing a historical lens on the role of rabbis trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, it demonstrates that members of a previously neglected group—Solomon Schechter's disciples—were in fact the ones who created Conservative Judaism over the first half of the twentieth century. The chapter discusses how integrating the study of Conservative Judaism into the growing field of new religious movements explains its emergence in a way that previous approaches cannot. It also clarifies how Schechter can be viewed as a charismatic religious leader.Less
This introductory chapter first sets out the book's purpose, namely to explain the emergence of Conservative Judaism as the third movement in American Jewish life, after Orthodox and Reform, in the first half of the twentieth century. By focusing a historical lens on the role of rabbis trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, it demonstrates that members of a previously neglected group—Solomon Schechter's disciples—were in fact the ones who created Conservative Judaism over the first half of the twentieth century. The chapter discusses how integrating the study of Conservative Judaism into the growing field of new religious movements explains its emergence in a way that previous approaches cannot. It also clarifies how Schechter can be viewed as a charismatic religious leader.
Michael Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231156356
- eISBN:
- 9780231526777
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231156356.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Solomon Schechter (1847–1915), the charismatic leader of New York's Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), came to America in 1902 intent on revitalizing traditional Judaism. While he advocated a return ...
More
Solomon Schechter (1847–1915), the charismatic leader of New York's Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), came to America in 1902 intent on revitalizing traditional Judaism. While he advocated a return to traditional practices, Schechter articulated no clear position on divisive issues, instead preferring to focus on similarities that could unite American Jewry. This book demonstrates how Schechter, unable to implement his vision on his own, turned to his disciples, rabbinical students and alumni of JTS, to shape his movement. By mid-century, Conservative Judaism had become the largest American Jewish grouping in the United States, guided by Schechter's disciples and their continuing efforts to embrace diversity while eschewing divisive debates. Yet Conservative Judaism's fluid boundaries also proved problematic for the movement, frustrating many rabbis who wanted a single platform to define their beliefs. The book demonstrates how a legacy of tension between diversity and boundaries now lies at the heart of Conservative Judaism's modern struggle for relevance. It explicates four key claims: that Conservative Judaism's clergy, not its laity or Seminary, created and shaped the movement; that diversity was—and still is—a crucial component of the success and failure of new American religions; that the Conservative movement's contemporary struggle for self-definition is tied to its origins; and that the porous boundaries between Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism reflect the complexity of the American Jewish landscape—a fact that Schechter and his disciples keenly understood. Rectifying misconceptions in previous accounts of Conservative Judaism's emergence, the book enables a fresh encounter with a unique religious phenomenon.Less
Solomon Schechter (1847–1915), the charismatic leader of New York's Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), came to America in 1902 intent on revitalizing traditional Judaism. While he advocated a return to traditional practices, Schechter articulated no clear position on divisive issues, instead preferring to focus on similarities that could unite American Jewry. This book demonstrates how Schechter, unable to implement his vision on his own, turned to his disciples, rabbinical students and alumni of JTS, to shape his movement. By mid-century, Conservative Judaism had become the largest American Jewish grouping in the United States, guided by Schechter's disciples and their continuing efforts to embrace diversity while eschewing divisive debates. Yet Conservative Judaism's fluid boundaries also proved problematic for the movement, frustrating many rabbis who wanted a single platform to define their beliefs. The book demonstrates how a legacy of tension between diversity and boundaries now lies at the heart of Conservative Judaism's modern struggle for relevance. It explicates four key claims: that Conservative Judaism's clergy, not its laity or Seminary, created and shaped the movement; that diversity was—and still is—a crucial component of the success and failure of new American religions; that the Conservative movement's contemporary struggle for self-definition is tied to its origins; and that the porous boundaries between Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism reflect the complexity of the American Jewish landscape—a fact that Schechter and his disciples keenly understood. Rectifying misconceptions in previous accounts of Conservative Judaism's emergence, the book enables a fresh encounter with a unique religious phenomenon.
Michael R. Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231156356
- eISBN:
- 9780231526777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231156356.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This epilogue first discusses the postwar growth of Conservative Judaism, which owed much to its shift from an all-embracing Catholic Israel to a movement of the religious center, positioned between ...
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This epilogue first discusses the postwar growth of Conservative Judaism, which owed much to its shift from an all-embracing Catholic Israel to a movement of the religious center, positioned between Orthodoxy and Reform. It then describes the state of the Conservative movement in twenty-first century. It concludes that Conservative Judaism is currently at a crossroads, with its numbers sharply declining in recent decades. The movement faces difficult choices as it struggles between a commitment to tradition and a desire for change, between those who advocate for a broadly encompassing “big tent” movement and those who seek a more narrowly defined, ideologically coherent one. It will be best prepared to confront them if it understands itself historically and appreciates the way in which Schechter's disciples created this American religious movement.Less
This epilogue first discusses the postwar growth of Conservative Judaism, which owed much to its shift from an all-embracing Catholic Israel to a movement of the religious center, positioned between Orthodoxy and Reform. It then describes the state of the Conservative movement in twenty-first century. It concludes that Conservative Judaism is currently at a crossroads, with its numbers sharply declining in recent decades. The movement faces difficult choices as it struggles between a commitment to tradition and a desire for change, between those who advocate for a broadly encompassing “big tent” movement and those who seek a more narrowly defined, ideologically coherent one. It will be best prepared to confront them if it understands itself historically and appreciates the way in which Schechter's disciples created this American religious movement.
