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Article: Judaism and the future of religion in America: the situation of Conservative Judaism today.(Editorial)
- Article from:
- Judaism
- Article date:
- June 22, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 American Jewish Congress. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Conservative Judaism in the early years of the twenty-first century confronts a complex set of challenges. Whereas fifty years ago, it was the movement preferred by the plurality of American Jews, doubling and then tripling the numbers of its affiliated congregations in little over a decade, it has long ceased growing, and in fact now suffers from an erosion in its membership. According to the National Jewish Population Study of 2000-2001, some 35 percent of Jews raised in the Conservative movement identify as Reform Jews and another 9 percent as Orthodox. Not surprisingly, the movement is debating how to stem these losses. But since the outflow is bi-directional, a ...