An Orthodox shul goes Conservative

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug.1 (JTA) — One of this country’s last Orthodox synagogues to allow men and women to sit together in prayer voted recently to abandon its affiliation with orthodoxy and join the Conservative movement. Agudas Achim, established in 1881, elected in June to join the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism after a 15-year evolution during which its resistance to erecting a mechitzah separating male and female worshipers brought about pressure from the Orthodox Union and, eventually, the split. The Columbus synagogue is not the first to change affiliations. But, according to Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, the O.U.’s executive director, it’s the only case where resistance to a mechitzah led to the shift. Weinreb said the synagogue’s decision saddened him, but in any case he wondered, “How many Orthodox synagogues does Columbus, Ohio need?” Weinreb also said two Conservative synagogues currently are considering joining the Orthodox Union. He wouldn’t disclose their names or locations, but described them as “Conservative synagogues that are very traditional and close to Orthodox.” Agudas Achim’s transformation didn’t take place overnight, but rather was a process that began 10 to 15 years ago. “The O.U. was concerned they were losing people from the branch” because of the lack of a mechitzah, said Josh Klynn, Agudas Achim’s executive director. “So they changed their by-laws to enforce the mechitzah.” That pressure, he said, led Agudas Achim to undergo a “conditioning process” that eventually led the synagogue to take its historic vote. “The congregation would have been happy to go as it had, but the O.U. forced the issue when it demanded the synagogue replace the mechitzah,” Klynn said. On June 25, Klynn sent Weinreb a letter stating that Agudas Achim was “effectively ending its connection to the O.U.” The synagogue’s membership status was to be discussed at an O.U. board meeting this past July, but after the shul’s decision, Weinreb said, “it’s a done deal.” When Agudas Achim moved to its current location in 1951, it did not erect a permanent mechitzah. Instead, it offered a basement mechitzah minyan on Shabbat mornings, frequented by about 40 synagogue members, and a mechitzah service for the evening Ma’ariv prayers in the synagogue’s chapel. Still, these offerings did not satisfy a group of members that wanted a permanent mechitzah in the main sanctuary. About three years ago, a group led by led by Jay Schottenstein, CEO of Retail Ventures and a member of the O.U.’s board of trustees, broke away from Agudas Achim to form the Main Street Synagogue, giving Columbus’ approximately 1,500 Orthodox Jews a fifth Orthodox house of prayer. Earlier this year, Agudas Achim completed a multi-million dollar renovation, which did not include construction of a new mechitzah. To appease the few members who still wanted one, the synagogue maintained a mechitzah minyan in its basement, which seemed to meet the O.U.’s requirement for services with a mechitzah. However, when the shul’s ritual committee voted to suspend this minyan, the Orthodox Union was alarmed. “The vote not to reinstate the mechitzah was the red flag to the O.U. that we weren’t going to have a mechitzah minyan,” Klynn said. Other than the formal switch in affiliation, not much else will change with regard to how the shul is run, Klynn said. “We want to keep things similar to how they’ve been,” he said. “Now we have a more accurate label.” But big changes are in store for Agudas Achim’s rabbi, Moshe Dick. He recently was informed that his contract will not be renewed when it expires in 2006. Dick said he has not been told why. Dick, who said he had no role in the synagogue’s decision to leave the Orthodox Union, said his status as an Orthodox rabbi may not gel with the synagogue’s change in affiliation. “I wasn’t involved in this change. I don’t vote and I wasn’t invited to give an opinion,” he said. Had he been asked to participate, Dick said he would have gotten involved. Rabbi Martin Pasternak, the United Synagogue’s director of congregational services, said he knows of no synagogue other than Agudas Achim planning to move to the Conservative Movement. Last year, two established Orthodox synagogues, one in Atlanta and another in Manhattan Beach, Calif., switched to Conservative affiliation. He confirmed that Agudas Achim had contacted the Conservative Movement, declaring its intention to join the United Synagogue. Klynn said the synagogue has formed a transitions committee charged with overseeing the application process. According to Rabbi Jerome Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue, who met in May with Agudas Achim’s board to “help them explore the Conservative movement,” the application process takes several months. There’s “always a chance for an application to be denied,” he said, “though it’s not likely.”