Louis Finkelstein and the Conservative Movement

The relationship of the Jewish Theological Seminary and its chancellor to the Conservative Movement has long been a subject of debate, if not a source of tension, among the national organizations of the movement as well as its rank and file. This is no less true today than it was eighty years ago. In order for one to understand the nature of JTS and the movement today, it seems necessary to understand the source(s) of this issue and the efforts from inside and outside the Seminary to grapple with it. To what extent is the JTS-Conservative Movement relationship particular to JTS or similar to that of other seminaries and the religious movement with which they are connected? This is the question that the author, Michael B. Greenbaum, seeks to answer within this study.