Cholent Trumps Theology

Hirhurim has a ongoing series, currently culminating in--Symposium: Why People Become Orthodox IV. He discusses what is drawing the best an brightest among Conservative Jews to Modern Orthodox communities and sums it up in one word: community.

I would venture that Conservative Jews davening in Modern Orthodox communities are no closer to accepting a literalist understanding of torah m’sinai or any other theological litmus test of Orthodoxy, than when they identified as Conservative Jews. Indeed, more often than not, they readily admit the concessions they have made to egalitarianism, the full application of critical scholarship to sacred study and any other "Conservative Movement" values they may have previously held dear. The allure of a close knit and interconnected community far outweighs any brand loyalty. In an increasingly post-denominational world, heimishness wins over institutional history, cholent above theology, shabbos zemirot before wissenschaft.

Read the whole thing.

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