A number of months ago I read in The Jewish Week an article where a well-known sociologist shared that the Conservative movement’s membership has halved over the last 20 years. This past weekend, I found out one reason why.
In your article, “Conservative Ruling Tips Scales on Cooked Fish” (Dec. 7), I realized that perpetual confusion is killing the movement. In fact, as someone who grew up among clergy in the Conservative movement, I have two words for the purported “leadership”: please stop. Please stop writing responsa regarding issues 60 years old; please stop writing responsa where the vast majority of your own rank and file do not adhere; please stop writing responsa that a significant portion of our own members vote against; and please stop writing responsa that you believe is attractive in the esoteric grappling of halacha.
Your public disagreement only underscores a clergy out of touch.
Highland Park, N.J.
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