Conservative Jewish Groups Feuding
An escalating conflict within the organization that represents Conservative synagogues--pitting the Southern California office against the group’s headquarters in New York--has culminated in an attempt by East Coast leaders to lock Los Angeles officers out of their offices in Encino.
At the same time, officers from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism also threatened to remove furnishings from the Encino office, officials on both sides have confirmed.
The United Synagogue, established in 1913, is an association of 760 Conservative congregations that have 1.4 million members, the New York office said.
The immediate dispute is the Pacific Southwest region’s refusal to send headquarters another $85,000 to $100,000 as part of an assessment to help cover costs of the national office, according to Allan Teplinsky, spokesman for the regional office and a candidate to become its president in November.
The larger issue, he asserted, is how much autonomy the Southern California office should have. “The economic issue is symptomatic of a philosophical difference on questions of centralization versus decentralization,” Teplinsky said in an interview.
Teplinsky said the two sides are in discussions in hopes of resolving the dispute by March 1.
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