#conservative Judaism

[the-catboy-minyan]

due to a certain asshole spewing bullshit in spacelazarwolf's notes, I wanna emphasize something:

YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW HEBREW TO BE JEWISH

YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEARN HEBREW TO BE JEWISH

YOU DON'T HAVE TO WANT TO LEARN HEBREW TO BE JEWISH

the only thing you need to be Jewish is to be Jewish. a Jew is a Jew.

(this message does not include messianic jews)

[moran-with-a-g]

As a conservative Jew, I just get kinda frustrated when people talk about conservative Christians as just "conservatives" y'know?

Like, I'm also conservative. I use that word. The word by itself is not bad. In the context of Judaism it's just a way I follow my religion that's pretty much between orthodox and reform, and it's about the rules more than it is about how devoted I am to living a religious life.

It's a pretty minor thing to be upset about but like. The assumption that everything is by default Christian and that your words won't be hurtful to people from other religions is getting to me.

[sandwichesaremyfav]

Can’t let gang know I fw this

[unsolicited-opinions]

I somehow missed this excellent example of interfaith cooperation.

3 of the largest Jewish denominations are suing the Trump administration over ICE raids By Ben SalesFebruary 11, 2025 11:41 am Three major Jewish religious denominations are suing the Department of Homeland Security to stop immigration raids at houses of worship. The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., was brought by dozens of religious groups including the governing bodies of the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements. The other groups represent a range of Christian denominations. They are challenging the Trump administration’s reversal of an order that prohibited Immigration and Customs Enforcement from operating in “sensitive locations” such as churches and synagogues.

[babka-enjoyer]

A YouTube video just dropped explaining the evolution of Jewish "denominations" (movements) from the Bible times until now. It's fairly American-centric once you get to modern time but still useful.

[hailruth]

Good time of a day!

I'm not Jew or Jewish, but I genuinely want to learn more about Judaism and Jewish culture. I recently found out about kosher clothes for girls who are 13 and higher (that the clothes must cover the elbows, etc) and wanted to know: are these rules strictly followed by Jewish girls in reality? Is it voluntary? Do secular Jews obey it?

I'd be glad if you answered these questions! Have a great day! Wish you all the best!

so, first things first, you will never be able to say that every single member of one ethnicity, religion, race, country, etc. definitively does one particular thing. so, something like how one dresses will not be universal among any group, including jews. the idea of how one should dress is also very broad; a simple yes or no answer is impossible to give on this topic. i am not a rabbi nor extremely educated on these ideas, so keep an eye out on the comments/reblogs from people who can provide more insight. also, keep in mind that i'm typing this on mobile while waiting at a gate for a flight.

there is an extremely large amount of secular jews out there and just as many religious jews who do not follow the laws of צניעות (tznius/tznuit, "modesty"). even then, how tznius is defined varies between communities (it is largely shaped by the minhag hamakom, the "custom of the place"). it also varies between streams of judaism. for example, the reform movement does not require a certain kind of dress (this does not mean that there aren't reform jews who choose to dress modestly / according to tznius), while orthodox and conservative movements will have guidelines. those are not all the branches of judaism, but they are the "big three." even within orthodoxy, which is probably what you're thinking of when you talk about "kosher clothes," there are many different ways in which people follow tznius.

there seem to be a few other misconceptions that you are approaching the topic with, so i would like to correct them.

tznius is absolutely not gender-specific (as in, only for women). modesty applies to every jew, regardless of gender. there are requirements for both men and women. there are, additionally, very interesting discussions among jews who are not cisgender or are gender nonconforming and how they interact with tznius. i do not have a personal gender identity but choose to practice judaism according to the laws given to women, and that is the only way in which i identify with any gender at all.

i am not completely sure where the "13 and higher" idea comes from. i am not educated on every single movement, but within orthodoxy, parents who choose to dress according to tznius generally start their children much earlier than that (anywhere from 2-6 years old, this is also dependent on minhag, but often is thought to only start once the child can understand the concept). there *could* be some communities that instead do this at the age of 13, but not that i personally know of. there is no strict answer as to exactly when children should begin dressing modestly.

like i said before, the idea of exactly what is modest is different between communities. modern orthodox and conservative movements, for example, follow tznius but do not always believe that this includes the need to cover elbows, according to the example you gave. as another example, not all orthodox jewish women wear strictly skirts, modern orthodox women often wear pants.

now onto your specific questions.

are these rules strictly followed by jewish girls in reality? i have largely answered this already, but to reiterate, there is no one mode of dress which you can assign to the whole of judaism or jewish women. but there are many who do follow these rules. i am an example of someone who is working towards having a modest wardrobe. in synagogue, i cover my collarbones and elbows, i also wear long skirts that are mid-calf length at the shortest. once i am married that will most likely be the entirety of my closet, though i am still personally working through whether or not i will continue to wear pants. as you can see, it is a very personal journey as clothing is so central to one's identity and mode of self-expression.

is it voluntary? again, it is impossible to give a universal answer to this question. i already have a multi-paragraph response in my mind to this, but i don't think i will get into the complexities of cultural expectations, societal norms, religious thought, and intracommunity disagreements. ideally, hopefully, and in the best scenarios, one will never, ever be forced to dress in a way that they do not want. but the world we live in is far more complex than that. however, most people who follow these laws do so because they believe in them deeply.

do secular jews obey it? well, again, this isn't a yes/no question. if they are secular, though, they definitely aren't doing it for religious reasons. i know of many jewish movements that adopt jewish forms of dress as cultural markers (such as women who cover their hair as a symbol of judaism, even if they aren't married). it's simply more comfortable and freeing for some to be more covered up, too. the reasons are endless and always personal. while most secular jews one meets probably do not choose to follow jewish modesty, there are absolutely those who do.

i hope these answers suffice. i would greatly appreciate it if any jews could share their personal beliefs and habits when it comes to how you dress. it would be most helpful for the asker to see the immense variation among movements, communities, and individuals.

[spale-vosver]

Sure, you changed the gendered language about HaShem in this handout, but are the girls in your synagogue studying Torah?

[coming-home116]

dont forget to kiss the mezuzah on your way in!

shalom!! you can call me Eli (for Eliezer) if you need to put a name to my presence. this is my Judaism blog, for anything that relates, probably primarily books (i now have a stack of Jewish books and am slowly working my way through it TwT), art, fashion, cooking, meditation, anything!

i am:

༄.° 18 years old, been considering conversion since i was around 15

༄.° blessed to be genderqueer. my pronouns are she/her, he/him, xe/xem/xyr, fin/fins, gill/gills, cer/cers, in no particular order

༄.° a prospective convert - i currently am not in the best position to convert as i live out of town of the Conservative synagogue i am hoping to convert through, but i am trying (and really really hoping) to make it work

༄.° hoping to learn some amount of Hebrew, Yiddish, Spanish, Ladino, Arabic, and French in my lifetime

༄.° a Star Trek fan! are you surprised? /lh (admittedly ive not watched most of it, and im primarily a fan of The Next Generation - Data, my beloved!)

༄.° alterhuman/otherkin/other such similar terms. this wont come up most likely but it is important to me, and something i think one can be casual about online. im not gonna post my 'types but if youre interested in knowing them, shoot me a DM maybe :3

this blog is NOT antizionism friendly - i will probably block you. if you consider Zionists to be bad Jews or people, you should block me. i will not respond to asks about the conflict. my asks are open and the anon option is on for anyone that might want to chat but is shy, not for hate.

messianic 'Jews' will be blocked on sight. other Christians are on thin ice - i ask that yall dont reblog or reply my posts with any Christian commentary. this is Jewish-related blog, for Jewish people.

other people i dont really fuck with and will probably block:

༄.° transmeds

༄.° so-called misanthropes

༄.° Wiccans (specifically Wiccans, otherwise witches and folk magic practioners are alright)

༄.° TERFs, radfems

BOTH Israelis and Palestinians deserve a safe home without war, and no one side or people deserves damnation just because of their government. Hamas is a terrorist organization.

im trying to observe Shabbos more, in the ways that appeal to me and make me feel closer to HaShem, so i might not be online Friday evenings and Saturdays (Central Standad Time)

im gonna come up with a tags list, stay tuned!

buhbye!

[askjumblr]

i know i want to convert to judaism, but i'm having a hard time choosing between reform and conservative. i'm leaning more towards conservative but if you're a reform or conservative convert, i would love to hear what your experience was like!

.

[ellaeved]

[onelastchanc]

I’m someone who tends to keeps kosher loosely, I follow all the dietary laws beside the mixing of meat and cheese (I love cheeseburgers 😞)

But as of lately I’m considering keeping my dairy and meat separate,

if anyone has any tips on easing my way into this or maybe just some alternative food products, please please pleaseeee recommend some!

[teenageascetic]

“Many Jewish sources, however, speak of the commandments as meditative devices, which can bring a person to a high level of G'd consciousness. When the commandments are seen in this light, they assume great spiritual significance.”

-Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in "Jewish Meditation:A Practical Guide"

[moran-with-a-g]

Idk I mostly gave up on Pesach this year. I didn't have time to clean, I forgot to lock a lot of my chametz away, I'm going to have to order food this weekend and honestly I can do my best to not eat chametz but it feels a bit pointless.

So this is the second year since I started keeping kosher that I didn't manage to keep Pesach properly. Maybe next year will be better.

[sandwichesaremyfav]

Me and who!!!

[opossumconvert]

The more I think about it the more I realize that I'll probably be better off converting with a conservative shul

However there is a slight issue which is that I have a reform siddur on my desk right now

[hailruth]

i am currently on my ba'al(at) teshuvah journey and looking for conservadox/orthodox blogs to follow. please point me in their direction if possible! i also welcome any good book recommendations.