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The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative
Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern Jewish denominations of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s....
 rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
s. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative movement. It organizes conferences and coordinates the Joint Placement Commission of the Conservative movement.






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The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative
Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern Jewish denominations of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s....
 rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
s. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative movement. It organizes conferences and coordinates the Joint Placement Commission of the Conservative movement. Members of the RA serve as rabbis, educators, community workers and military and hospital chaplains around the world.

Rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
nical graduates from Jewish Theological Seminary, the American Jewish University (California) and The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies

The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, located in Jerusalem, is an important academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism. It serves as one of the movement's main rabbinical seminaries alongside Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City, the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, and the Seminario Rab?nico Latinoam...
 (Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
, Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
) are automatically members of the RA; Rabbis whose ordination is from other seminaries and Yeshivas
Yeshiva

Yeshiva or yeshivah , or metivta or mesivta ) also frequently referred to as a Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy or Rabbinical School is an institution unique to classical Judaism for Torah study, the study of Talmud, Rabbinic literature and History of responsa....
 are also admitted. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly....
 (CJLS) is the movement's central body on interpreting Jewish law and custom
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
; it was founded by the Rabbinical Assembly in the 1920s. It is composed of 25 Rabbis, who are voting members, and five laypeople, who do not vote but participate fully in deliberations. When any six (or more) members vote in favor of a position, that position becomes an official position of the Rabbinical Assembly. When more than one position is validated, each congregational Rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
 functions as the mara de-atra (??? ?????, lit. "master of the house" in Aramaic, the mara de-atra serves as the local authority in Jewish law), adopting for their congregation the position he or she considers most compelling.

The Rabbinical Assembly of Israel (Israeli arm of the RA) has its own decision making body, the Va'ad Halacha. Responsa
Responsa

Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them....
 by both the CJLS and the Va'ad Halacha are equally valid, although the Va'ad's emphasis is on issues pertaining to Israeli society. The CJLS and the Va'ad do not always come up with the same answer to a question. In such cases a rabbi is free to decide which responsa to adopt.

The RA publishes books, prayer books
Siddur

A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
, and the quarterly journal "Conservative Judaism".

RA members converse online via Ravnet
Ravnet

Ravnet is the private, unmoderated discussion group of the Conservative Judaism Rabbinical Assembly . Ravnet is often used as a sounding board for the new issues of the day, or even for clarification about points of Jewish law....
 and in person at the RA conventions.

In October 2008, Julie Schonfeld was named Wednesday as the new executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, making her the first female rabbi to serve in the chief executive position of an American rabbinical association.

See also

  • Conservative responsa
    Conservative responsa

    Conservative responsa are the body of responsa literature of Conservative Judaism . Most Conservative responsa have been written by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards....
  • Vaad
    Vaad

    Vaad is a Hebrew language term for a council of rabbis. It is a diasporic phenomenon, having no precedent in Talmudic times. A Vaad has different responsibilities from a beth din ....


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