Response to Dr. Michael Cohen

I don't mean to sound repetitive, but I also found Dr. Cohen's lecture to be interesting and enjoyable. The formation and history of the Conservative movement tied in nicely to last week's lecture about Tikun Olam in Conservative Judaism. I had previously heard of Solomon Schechter, mainly through the Jewish day schools he established, but I did not actually know anything about him. I found it very interesting and ironic that the United Synagogue became splintered and forced the new movements to define their positions on issues. From the lecture, Solomon Schechter seems to be a true mensch, a Jewish teacher and leader who sought to do it all and do it well. His attempts to focus on similarities rather than differences reinforces this idea. His vision has not only been realized in his Conservative movement, but other movements and practices have adopted similar practices, of which many can probably be attributed to him. Dr. Cohen's lecture made me more interested in the topic and I now hope to learn more about this.