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date: 07 March 2021

Abstract and Keywords

This chapter examines Conservative Judaism and ethic. Changing what Jews do and altering the reasons why they should do things differently was not an exclusively Reform endeavour; Conservative Judaism has also instituted innovations, especially since World War II. These changes are most evident in Conservative liturgy as well as in halakhic positions vis-à-vis women, homosexuality, and mamzerut (bastardy). Conservative thinkers and scholars of Jewish law, however, have taken diverse approaches as to how and when to make such changes, and so one cannot articulate a single “Conservative theory” of Jewish ethics. The chapter presents the author's own approach in contrast to those of some of the other representatives of Conservative Judaism, whose theories and legal rulings are discussed.

Keywords: Conservative Judaism, Jewish ethics, Jews, Conservative liturgy, halakhic positions, women, homosexuality, mamzerut

Shai Cherry

Shai Cherry (Ph.D., Brandeis University; Rabbi, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University) directs Shaar Hamayim, a Jewish Learning Center based in San Diego. Previously he taught for four years at Vanderbilt University and four years at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Torah through Time: Understanding Bible Commentary from the Rabbinic Period to Modern Times and numerous articles on Judaism, creation, and evolution. He is the featured lecturer for The Teaching Company’s Introduction to Judaism course and is currently at work on a Jewish theology of nature.

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