Committee on Congregational Standards

Serving Conservative Judaism’s Synagogues, Schools, Professionals and Clergy

Who Are We?

The question was raised by the president of a synagogue that was involved in a contractual dispute. “What right do you have to get involved?” he asked. The answer is that we provide an important service from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism to every constituent lay and professional group. All synagogue professionals can submit or file a complaint with the committee.

The committee is an integral unit of United Synagogue and of Conservative Judaism. Its objective is to serve the affiliated synagogues and constituencies. Every effort is made to meld Jewish tradition with our daily lives as synagogue members. When controversies arise, the application of local civil law is made in keeping with Jewish tradition and customs.

The committee is comprised of leaders, both lay and professional, selected by the president of United Synagogue. The committee includes members of the Rabbinical Assembly, Cantors Assembly, Jewish Educators Assembly, Jewish Youth Directors Association, North America Association of Synagogue Executives, Women’s League of Conservative Judaism, Jewish Theological Seminary, and Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. It is the responsibility of these organizations to educate their membership about the committee’s existence and the benefits it provides. The committee meets quarterly.

Standards for Congregational Practice

Each of our affiliated synagogues is expected to function under the Standards for Congregational Practice. The standards deal with the following areas: Basis of authority (the roles of the rabbi and the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards); Shabbat, kashrut; rites, ceremonies and functions; Jewish education for all ages (including early childhood); religious schools and Solomon Schechter day schools; fundraising; moral dignity; relationships with other congregations and the general Community. (The Standards were revised and accepted at United Synagogue’s biennial convention in 2007.)

Function of the Committee

The committee functions under the general supervision of the president of United Synagogue and under the control and authority of its board of directors. The Conservative movement’s professional, volunteer and academic organizations have full membership on United Synagogue’s board. Other than decisions made by way of interim policy and those relating to procedural matters, or by independent panels of arbitrators in handling disputes, the determinations are submitted to the board of directors from time to time for review and disposition.

While its specific mandate is to serve synagogues, the committee often is called upon to assist United Synagogue and other constituencies of the Conservative movement. The main objective is to maintain standards of practice and to build harmonious relationships among synagogues and between the synagogue and its professionals. The fullest cooperation of synagogue leadership is a top priority.

Resolving Controversies

The Standards Committee strongly encourages the inclusion in all professionals’ contracts of a requirement that any controversy between a congregation and the professional be sent to it for mediation, followed by arbitration if the mediation is not successful. The committee acts as a neutral body, assisting in an equitable resolution of differences.

Guide to Congregational Practices

The committee strongly endorses and recommends the inclusion of all the provisions of the Guide to Congregational Practice in all contracts. The guide helps in developing contractual relations and provisions for synagogue clergy and professional staff. If there is no clear direction to the contrary, mediators and arbitrators use the guide, along with their understanding of the Conservative movement’s customs and practices, as they work to resolve issues that confront them.

The main reason to resolve controversies under the committee’s auspices is to keep Jewish problems within the Jewish system of justice and away from public notoriety. It is also more expedient and less expensive.

Providing Guidance

The committee handles general inquiries throughout the year that may relate to an actual controversy or that may be concerned with a potential controversy or deal with the guidelines, standards and halakhic/ethica1 Jewish behavior. Often with input from regional leadership, cases are resolved effectively and satisfactorily.

Publications of the committee now available on the USCJ website:

• The RA and USCJ Model Rabbi (Cantor) Engagement Agreement
• Crafting a Contract Between the Synagogue and the Professional: Protecting the Partnership While Providing for Separation (CA, RA, NAASE, JEA, USCJ)
• Putting the Partnership Under the Microscope: A Process of Review and Assessment of a Congregation’s Professionals and Leadership, co-authored by Rabbi Elliot S. Schoenberg and Carnot Nelson
• Standards for Congregational Practice (revised and approved at the 2007 Biennial)
• Model Guidelines for Congregational Policy against Harassment, author Richard Helfand
• Guide to Congregational Practice (under revision 2008)
• Al Ha Derekh: On the Path, approaches to involving intermarried couples and their children into the Jewish community and Jewish observance – author, Rabbi Moshe Edelman
• Guide to Jewish Funeral Practices
• Guide to the Hevra Kadisha