Purim '08: Conservative Movement Split Over Unity Agreement
by Jewish Week Staff
New York — After completing a speaking and listening tour of every Conservative congregation in North America, twice, in the last two weeks, Jewish Theological Seminary chancellor Arnie Iceman said he now has a good idea of the ideal Conservative rabbi.
“We’ll be looking for someone who is part man, part woman, part gay, part straight, part committed to halacha and part Unitarian, whose diet consists of part knishes and part cheeseburgers and most importantly, who is wholly committed to the ideals of our movement,” Iceman said.
He also said that lay people, asked to define mitzvot, agreed that they were “nice things,” and that a committee of rabbinic scholars will now try to take those findings and translate them into complex Talmudic terms in
a forthcoming six-volume report.
Iceman said he was thrilled with the “vibrancy and excitement” among Conservative constituents he found in his travels, and that “both people I met under 50 during my extensive travels agreed with me.”
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