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With Israeli statehood a reality, Conservative Judaism became a full-fledged Zionist movement. For JTS chancellor Louis Finkelstein, the commitment to Israel was personal as well; his daughter had settled and established a family in Jerusalem, with her father making visits year after year. The chancellor reflected that “when I was her age, I too thought I was going to spend my life in Jerusalem, but I did not.”

Article | Conservative Judaism’s Zionism, 1948-1973

Soon after the outbreak of World War II, Jewish Theological Seminary chancellor Dr. Cyrus Adler passed away, and leadership of the JTS and of Judaism’s Conservative Movement was placed into the hands of Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, a JTS graduate and longtime assistant to Dr. Adler. Like his predecessor, Rabbi Finkelstein was committed not to Political Zionism, but rather to Spiritual Zionism.

Article | Conservative Judaism’s Zionism from World War II Until Israeli Statehood

In “The Zionism of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 1902-1948,” Dr. Naomi Cohen affirmed that Solomon Schechter’s “religious Zionism found a ready response among seminary students, many of whom were already Zionist sympathizers. The young men flocked to sermons and lectures by prominent Zionists and took an active part in Zionist youth and Hebrew-speaking organizations.”

Article | The Zionism of Solomon Schechter’s Students

The European roots of Zionism in Conservative Judaism commenced with an emphasis on Jewish history and peoplehood as espoused by Rabbi Zechariah Frankel in the mid-19th century. Rabbi Frankel had withdrawn from the German rabbinical conferences of the 1840s due to emerging receptivity to replacing Hebrew as the language of Jewish prayer.

Article | The Origin of Zionism in Conservative Judaism

MERCAZ Olami is the political party representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement at the National Institutions. But what does this mean and why is it important?

Four Questions About MERCAZ Olami

Shituf 2023 | Perspectivas judías acerca de la sustentabilidad del planeta • Dr. Daniel Fainstein

Watch Dr. Daniel Fainstein presentation (with subtitles in English) about how our communities can use Jewish perspectives to understand and act for the sustainability of the planet.

MERCAZ Values

Article | Conservative Judaism’s Zionism, 1948-1973

October 29th, 2024

Article | Conservative Judaism’s Zionism from World War II Until Israeli Statehood

October 10th, 2024

Article | The Zionism of Solomon Schechter’s Students

October 3rd, 2024

Article | The Origin of Zionism in Conservative Judaism

August 25th, 2024

Four Questions About MERCAZ Olami

May 6th, 2024

Video | Jewish Perspectives on Planet Sustainability

June 6th, 2023

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