United Synagogue Convention Revised Standards That Guide and Reflect Congregational Life

At its recent biennial convention in Orlando, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism voted to accept revisions to the standards that guide the lives of its member synagogues.

These new Standards for Congregational Practices, updated for the first time in 17 years, re-emphasize some of Conservative Judaism’s core beliefs as they clarify others, said Ed Rudofsky, who chairs United Synagogue’s standards committee.

Congregational rabbis, who make the decisions on Jewish law for their congregations, are expected to consider the decisions of the Committee on Jewish Laws and Standards carefully before making rulings but are expected as well to take the unique circumstances of their own synagogue into consideration.

The standards reflect the traditional interpretation that only Jews may be members of Conservative congregations, but also emphasize that we welcome non-Jewish family members warmly and value their contributions to our synagogues How they are integrated in synagogue life is up to the rabbi and laity of each congregation, operating within the framework of Conservative Jewish law. “As in so many other areas, we recognize that each family situation and each congregation is different, and that there is likely to be diversity in how the rabbi and lay leadership, working together, approach these issues,” Mr. Rudofsky said.

“However, what should be emphasized is that the United Synagogue believes in passionate outreach – edud – to non-Jewish spouses of Jews, and that our goal is to encourage and support conversion to Judaism.”

Another major revision made in the standards, reflecting the traditional Jewish emphasis on education, is the statement that congregations should provide formal and informal educational programming for all age groups and also support the local Solomon Schechter day schools as much as possible.

“The standards have been revised to make sure they reflect the movement’s contemporary values,” Mr. Rudofsky said. “They are a clear statement of what it means to be a Conservative Jewish congregation.”

The full text of the revised standards are available here.