www.rosnersdomain.com from haaretz.com
Shmuel Rosner Chief U.S. Correspondent
Some readers got it wrong - and the blame must rest on my shoulders. Yesterday, I wrote about the choice of Arnold Eisen to be the new Jewish Theological Seminary chancellor - and it seems as if people thought I was against it, as I was saying it would undermine the Conservative movement’s rabbis. (more…)
Chanan Tigay
NEW YORK, April 11 (JTA) — In his first interview with the U.S. Jewish media after being named the next chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Arnold Eisen told JTA he favors allowing gays and lesbians to become Conservative rabbis. (more…)
Chanan Tigay
NEW YORK, April 10 (JTA) — With Conservative Judaism at a crossroads, the movement’s flagship institution has chosen a scholar of American Jewry to guide it.
No white smoke emerged from the Jewish Theological Seminary’s red-brick tower Monday when Arnold Eisen’s selection was approved by JTS’ board. But the move put to bed months of rumors and speculation swirling around the secretive process by which the list of potential candidates for chancellor was winnowed to one. (more…)
www.rosnersdomain.com from haaretz.com
Shmuel Rosner Chief U.S. Correspondent
April 11, 2006
I heard Arnold Eisen speaking only once, but fortunately for me, it was just a week ago, at the Jewish Funders Network in Denver, Colorado. Today, it was announced that he will become the new chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, succeeding Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, who steps down from this post this coming June, after 20 years at the helm of the Conservative movement institution. (more…)
Gershon Kekst
I am delighted to announce that Professor Arnold M. Eisen has been elected to serve as the seventh Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary.
He is an extraordinary individual and, I believe, uniquely qualified to lead JTS at this important time in the history of Conservative Judaism and the American Jewish community. (more…)
Arnold Eisen
A right social order — the goal of covenant — is not simply one among many things Jews are meant to strive for but the essential thing.
The Lubavitcher rebbe once said, wisely, in praise of our ancestor Abraham, that he not only drew divine radiance into himself but — far rarer among tzadikkim, then or now — radiated light outward to the world are doing here. In that spirit let me say how glad I am that Sh’ma’s observance of Judaism’s 350th marriage with America is not focusing like so many others on how well Jews are doing here but on the ways we could and should be doing good. From the conversation begun at Sinai, what word, davar, shall we place before God, before one another, and before America? (more…)
Originally appeared in The Foward
Jennifer Siegel
Rabbi Alan Silverstein, one of the country’s most prominent Conservative pulpit rabbis, has confirmed that he is no longer a candidate for the top position at the movement’s main seminary. (more…)
Sharon Brous
It’s time for some heshbon hanefesh – some honest, soulful self reflection.
The world is falling deeper into chaos, with violence and poverty reaching astounding new benchmarks. Concurrently, American Jewry is increasingly characterized by indifference, preoccupied by material acquisition, and no longer looking to the synagogue for community or moral guidance. At the same time, there seems to be a nearly universal recognition that the Conservative Movement is in crisis — with fewer devotees and shrinking institutional resonance. (more…)
I was surprised that none of the commentators on the Sh’ma Nishma page (including my friend Richard Kaufman) took Rabbi Gillman’s point sufficiently to heart to try to respond to it. Rabbi Gillman quite aptly notes that the Conservative Movement confronts a crisis because it wants to be “halachic” but is not able to live within halacha without betraying its perceived need to confront the serious social problems that twenty-first century living presents to those who take Torah seriously. Indeed, one need go no further than the other pages of your February issue to appreciate the point. (more…)
Originally appeared in The Foward
Jennifer Siegel
The top lawmaking body of Conservative Judaism is poised to vote next week on whether to overturn the movement’s ban on same-sex marriages and the ordination of openly gay clergy. (more…)