Then, four years ago, a group of students decided that the Conservative movement should broaden the field. Their idea was born as the Conservative Yeshiva, located on the campus of the Fuchsberg Center for Conservative Judaism under the aegis of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism . And this year, this home for Conservative students in Jerusalem has come under the academic auspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Although there are no tests, homework or degrees, director Joshua Kulp, a doctoral student at Bar-Ilan University and one of the founding students, notes that the atmosphere is nonetheless intense.
People here are very serious.
They want to learn as much as possible. I contacted a few Orthodox yeshivot and found that in order to study there I would have to hide my identity as a Conservative Jew. One Saturday night he visited an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva in the Old City. I know that if the Conservative Yeshiva had existed at the time, he would have found a place to learn and a place to call home. While some students who study at the yeshiva go on to rabbinical school, the program is designed for those who will enter traditional professions like medicine or law but want to deepen their knowledge of Torah, Talmud, halakha and Humash.