June 17, 2005 Ismar Schorsch to retire as JTS chancellor By URIEL HEILMAN NEW YORK Rabbi Ismar Schorsh, chancellor of the Conservative movement's flagship institution for 19 years, announced this week that next year will be his last at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Schorsch, 69, has been a fixture at the seminary for nearly two decades, and his departure-along with the shakeup two weeks ago of the leadership of the Conservative movement's Israeli rabbinical school-could herald a time of great change for the Conservative movement. The chancellor informed JTS of his decision Wednesday. "This institution is incomparably stronger than it was when I took over 20 years ago," Schorsch told the Jerusalem Post. "I have always wanted to step down while still in top form. I did not want people coming to tell me I'm over the hill. I also wanted to leave the institution in a strong position." The announcement of Schorsch's retirement comes at a time of some tumult in the Conservative movement. The 120-year-old seminary is trying to climb out of millions of dollars of debt owed to its endowment fund, the movement's Israeli rabbinical school experienced a major upheaval two weeks ago that resulted in the resignations of the school's chairman, several board members and administrators, and the movement as a whole is losing members while the numbers of American Orthodox and Reform Jews grow. The change in leadership at the seminary may portend an opportunity for generational change within the movement, where JTS's younger set tends to be less loyal to the movement's ideology, more interested in traditional prayer and more committed to progressive ideals that many of the seminary's stalwarts. "The Conservative movement retains a definition of itself that seems to be sufficiently narrow that a lot of people feel that they are no longer welcome within it," said Jonathan Sarna, a historian of American Judaism at Brandeis University, in a recent interview with the Post. Speaking of young JTS graduates who take pains not to identify themselves as Conservative Jews, Sarna said, "Even though they may have come out of the Jewish Theological Seminary, they no longer feel comfortable associating themselves with the Conservative movement." Scorsch is widely credited with help making education a top priority in the Conservative movement, helping spur the growth of the movement's Solomon Schecheter day schools, Ramah summer camps, supplemental Jewish educational programs and the TALI schools in Israel. The student body at JTS, which has a rabbinical school, cantorial program, graduate schools and an undergraduate program, also has grown under Schorsch's tenure. On many issues Schorsch has been seen as a staunch traditionalist, thwarting attempts to change Conservative Judaism's view on homosexuals (gays are officially barred from admission to JTS's rabbinical school, though some enrolled students there say they are homosexual) and announcing in 2003 that the movement had made a mistake half a century ago when its rabbis ruled that it was permissible to drive to synagogue on Shabbat. Some have criticized Schorsch for being out of touch with the needs of the younger generation of Conservative Jews, many of whom report being disenchanted with the large suburban houses of worship that symbolize a Conservative Judaism they say is staid and lacking in depth. Schorsch acknowledges some of these problems. "The products of serious Jewish education in the Conservative movement are often out of synch with established Conservative institutions, like the synagogue," he said in a recent interview. "I think that is a major challenge for the Conservative synagogue. It needs to be much more adept at reabsorbing the best products of serious Jewish education. We need to change the culture of the Conservative synagogue to allow for far more programming and religious expression for advanced Conservative Jews. The agenda of the Conservative synagogue must not restrict itself to serving entry-level Jews." Rabbi Jerome Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, said of Schorsch: "During his tenure the chancellor has been a force for change, a force for leadership, and I think that he will leave big shoes to be filled." JTS will assemble a search committee to find a successor to Schorsch, whose last day at the seminary will be June 30, 2006.