JTA: Eisen Reinvigorates the Conservative Movement

Go Arnie go. The Conservative Movement needs some energy. Give it all you've got.

Frank Monkiewicz

JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen speaks at the Rabbinical Assembly’s convention in Cambridge, Mass., April 30.

New chancellor energizes
Conservative movement
By Ben Harris
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (JTA) -- He was given four standing ovations and received universal praise from Conservative rabbis this week, but Arnold Eisen still has his work cut out for him as he prepares to help steer the Conservative movement out of the doldrums.

On July 1, Eisen will assume the chancellorship of the Jewish Theological Seminary and with it the de-facto leadership of the Conservative movement.

Eisen, a professor of Jewish studies at Stanford University for the past 20 years and a leading scholar of contemporary Jewry, is only the second non-rabbi to lead the movement's flagship seminary. His appointment last year raised some hackles.