News Flash: Conservative Rabbis Supposed to Keep Kosher
“Do you eat dairy out?”
It’s one of those phrases that only makes sense to a select group of people, in this case, Jews with some traditional background. The question refers to the relatively common practice of keeping a strict separation between meat and dairy at home while eating non-meat products at non-kosher restaurants, even though such establishments obviously do not use separate meat and dairy utensils. For the most part, the practice has persisted as a folk custom without rabbinic endorsement. In the mid-twentieth century, when kosher restaurants were few and far between, some Conservative rabbis and a few liberal Orthodox rabbis found ways to make limited exceptions, but for the most part, those who considered themselves bound by traditional halakhah were forced to concede that food prepared at non-kosher establishments was not kosher. Mordecai Kaplan, the spiritiual father of the Reconstructionist movement, endorsed the practice of keeping kosher at home while “eating out” as a way to maintain Jewish culture while allowing Jews to experience the modern world and interact freely with their gentile neighbors. This position was based on sociological considerations, however; Kaplan had no interest in preserving the traditional halakhic system.
It is not surprising that many Conservative Jews (as well as some nominally Orthodox Jews) continue to eat dairy out. People aren’t entirely consistent by nature, and not everyone who keeps kosher does so for strictly halakhic reasons. Nor is it surprising that many Conservative rabbis eat out, as many are essentially Reconstructionist in theology. What continues to amazing me is how many Conservative Jews, including so-called rabbis, seem to think that “eating dairy out” is a coherent halakhic position. Many, in fact, seem to think that it is the only coherent halakhic position, and that anyone who doesn’t eat at non-kosher restaurants is a religious fanatic, while anyone who doesn’t keep separate utensils at home is “non-observant.”
According to an article in the New York Jewish Week, a recent survey found that 71% of Conservative rabbis eat hot dairy food in non-kosher restaurants, while 92% eat hot food in vegetarian restaurants lacking rabbinic supervision. This has prompted Rabbi Paul Plotkin to begin to compose a teshuvah opposing the practice. The word teshuvah means “answer.” Traditionally, teshuvot responded to specific questions, which means that they usually expressed halakhic positions that weren’t maddeningly obvious. Unfortunately, the Conservative movement has apparently reached a point at which its rabbis can’t appreciate what would be apparent to any outsider who gave it a moment’s thought.
I fell into the Conservative movement more or less by default. For a while, I found its peculiar foibles amusing, but lately, it’s really started to piss me off. I’m thinking of starting my own Deconstructionist community. Any takers?
(Cross-posted to Apikorsus, please post comments there.)
BS”D
I think you said it all. I wonder what the conservative position on the subject will be. Or will they write several competing and contradictory teshuvos?
Uh oh. Here we go again.
While I can understand the frustration that you voice, the reality is that there are numerous self described “Orthodox” and many Sephardim who engage in just this practice so to frame this once again as Jews gone wild is not a constructive dialogue. With the global reality that our tribe is the target of scorn and hatred (e.g. Eli Wiesel was nearly kidnapped this past week) we should focus on constructive not destructive discussions (particularly in this public forum.)
BS”D
Harlan, I believe his point was not that members of conservative synagogues are doing “wrong”, but that members of the coservative rabbinate are doing “wrong” (right and wrong being defined by halacha), since conservative is a halachic institution, and the conservative rabbis represent the institution. And the reason presented is that conservative did not previously take the practice up in their law committee, thereby allowing any conservative rabbi, with his limited knowledge and understanding of yoreh deah, to make uninformed decisions by himself, to the point that widespread practice even by rabbis is in contradiction to halacha. And now someone within the “movement”, presumably someone of some stature in halacha, wishes to put the genie back in the bottle. And though what you say is correct about self-described orthodox and Sephardim also mistakenly engaging in the practice, since orthodox semicha itself requires a fairly thorough understanding of yoreh deah, it is a practice not countenanced in orthodox halacha. And parenthetically, although I know of one orthodox rabbi who hot food in a vegetarian restaurant, he checked the restaurant thoroughly to ascertain that there were no nonkosher ingredients in the place, at least, and though there is the issue of bishul akum to contend with, the best that can be said is that he was not the most halachically oriented rabbi I’ve ever met, and probably was not a role model for too many people outside of his community, which was quite, quite liberal, often to a greater degree than even he would say halacha allowed. At issue is what the institution of orthodoxy, or the institution of conservative, claims as proper practice. Evidently, the institution of conservative has avoided the issue officially for a considerable number of years. If the official position comes down to halacha, it will “disenfranchise” the considerable number of conservative-oriented Jews who engage in this practice, as well as those rabbis who do. If it comes down to negating halacha, the institution itself will lose standing relative to the outside world, pushing conservative further to the left and diminishing differentiation between it and reform in practice, and potentially in hashkafa as well, in effect rendering them irrelevant. Elf obviouly bemoans the fact that his chosen affiliation is moving towards irrelevance, and is frustrated. To say this is not constructive dialogue is incorrect, for it has the potential of affecting the eating habits or affiliations of a considerable number of Jews. Elf is not simply bashing.
Elf, I agree with your position on the kashrut of “eating out” dairy, although I am guilty of it myself. I don’t pretend to myself that its kosher, but merely a personal compromise I make to function in my world.
What troubles me is your reference to “so-called rabbis” or your claim that “many are essentially Reconstructionist in theology”. This is not my experience in the Northeast U.S., nor do I see it reflected at the Ramah my children attend.
The Conservative movement clearly has a lot of problems and, given its broad definition of “pluralism” is arguably no longer a movement at all, but merely a framework for supporting congregations that are neither Orthodox nor affiliated with Reform.
Let’s not kid ourselves about how many “Orthodox” Jews bend rules as well. Pointing fingers about Kashrut does not seem to be the theme of this website. I will no longer visit your site if this is the road it is taking. What a shame that you’ve decided to focus on peoples’ indiscresions rather than the mitzvot that people practice properly.