Conservative Judaism

The Conservative movement was originally a 19th century reaction to Reform, from within the Reform community.   They returned to accepting both Torah and Halacha as authoritative.  But because this was a distinct community, their application of Halacha to contemporary situations took an independent course from the orthodox application of Halacha.  Nevertheless, differences in prescribed behavior are actually quite small.  The waves of Jewish immigration to America from the 1880s to the 1920s resulted mostly in enlarging orthodox and conservative congregations.

Most American Jews identify themselves as Conservative.   But most of these Jews are not observant of Conservative halacha and are unfamiliar with it.  This is the most significant practical distinction between Orthodox and Conservative.   Thus, most American Conservative Jews practice Reform Judaism in deed and philosophy, but join Conservative synagogues because that is the style of service they prefer.   Their affiliation has become a matter of community more than a matter of philosophy or of forms of observance.

Dates and Timing

Jewish dates begin and end at sundown.   The convention for Gregorian ("secular") calandars is to assign Jewish labels to Gregorian dates based on their corresponding daylight hours.   So if your Gregorian calendar says that Tuesday is a Jewish holiday, the evening service that inaugurates the holiday is Monday night.   Thus the Sabbath begins Friday at sundown and continues through Saturday at sundown.

The Sabbath evening (Friday night) service typically lasts about forty-five minutes.   The Sabbath morning services typically last around two and a half hours, ending around mid-day.   Thus the Jewish Sabbath morning services are much longer than a Christian mass.

On Sabbath mornings and on Festival mornings, many congregants come late.   When they arrive, they catch up with the congregation silently at their own faster pace.   Non-Jews that don't want to be one of the few worshippers present at the very beginning should note this and arrive about a half hour "late".

At all other services, one should be more punctual.   On these occasions the service has to finish on time, therefore congregants must arrive punctually.   (After weekday morning services people must eat breakfast and go to work.   Afternoon services, usually scheduled just before sundown, must finish by nightfall.   After early evening services people want to go home to dinner, and after late evening services they want to go to sleep.)