Miami’s Reform Bet Breira decided to merge with a Conservative synagogue, so the synagoguge has dual affiliation, one of at least 12 such synagogues. Some expect more mergers or more “strategic alliances” between Conservative and Reform synagogues. (Jewish Week)
Raymond B. Goldstein argues against rapid change in the Conservative movement: “Swift, large-scale changes imposed from our headquarters in New York would violate the very spirit of greater transparency under which we are committed to operating. We need time to build consensus among our international membership.” (Jewish Week)
Jonathan D. Sarna, ticking off five significant problems the Orthodox face, notes, “saying Kaddish for other religious movements has often been the first sign of a movement’s own impending decline.” (Forward)
Even in mainstream Orthodox synagogues “‘decorum’ is the bête noir. But the issue is not the din of conversation; for most congregants it is the poverty of the experience of worship.” Will the new siddur help? (Jewish Week)
Kaddish
Pronounced: KAH-dish, Origin: Hebrew, usually referring to the Mourner’s Kaddish, the Jewish prayer recited in memory of the dead.
siddur
Pronounced: SIDD-ur or seeDORE, Origin: Hebrew, prayerbook.
