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Conservative Judaism’s procedural paralysis

JL;DR SUMMARY Rabbi Joshua Rabin reflects on Conservative Judaism's focus on procedural debates, such as interfaith wedding officiation, arguing these discussions overshadow more pressing systemic issues. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

LeadershipDemocracyJewish CommunitySynagoguesConservative JudaismInnovationBureaucracyInterfaith WeddingsSystemic IssuesRevitalization

Places mentioned

Michigan, United States
"Michael Bagley of the University of Michigan warns that the United States democracy is under threat not due to any particular politician or political party, but primarily because of what he calls the procedure fetish."
Astoria, New York, United States
"Rabbi Joshua Rabin is the rabbi of the Astoria Center of Israel and author of the Substack newsletter Moneyball Judaism."
United States
"He even gave the first organization dedicated to the promotion of Conservative Judaism the acronym USA (the United Synagogue of America, now the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)."

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Cairo Item ID 60992
Cairo Source ID 34
Retrieved 2025-09-09 05:30:33 UTC
Curated 2025-09-09 08:30:57 UTC