Dorff responds to Wertheimer in Dec. Commentary

Having registered these
areas of dissent, I should say
that I agree wholeheartedly
with Mr. Wertheimer’s
recipe for the future of
Conservative Judaism: we
need to teach people what
they “need to know, observe,
and believe if they are
to connect to traditional Judaism.”
But I would add
that we also need to explain
why one should lead such a
life—we are a movement
that values unfettered
thought as well as traditional
observance—and why
we stand for an honest,
egalitarian, traditional, and
yet modern way to live authentically
as Jews.
Rabbi Elliot Dorff
American Jewish University
Los Angeles, California