Matthew Lagrone

Similar to past lecturers, Matthew Lagrone’s talk discussed different modules of conservative Judaism, specifically concerning Alexander Kohut and Kaufman Kohler. While I was admittedly quite confused during most of the lecture, I did find that Kohut articulated conservative philosophy, defined by 1. volunteerism, 2. denominationalism and 3. pluralism. Volunteerism is considered to be the hallmark of American Judaism. Mr. Lagrone discussed other trademarks of American Judaism. First, American Jews are Jews by birth and choice. Second, American Jews have no chief rabbi. Mr. Lagrone said this was more akin to baptists then catholics. I found this part of the lecture to be interesting, as it made me take a step back and observe who I am as a Jewish American. Kohut also allowed some changes, and defines Judaism as conservative progress. The talk centered around differing views regarding the fluidity of Jewish law. I believe that part of my confusion was due to the usage of many words unfamiliar to me. For example, I am only mildly acquainted with the term “kehila.”