Editing Conservative Judaism (section)

===Revelation===
Conservative conception of [[revelation]] encompasses an extensive spectrum. Zecharias Frankel himself applied critical-scientific methods to analyze the stages in the development of the [[Oral Torah]], pioneering modern study of the [[Mishnah]]. He regarded [[Chazal]] as innovators who added their own original contribution to the canon, not merely as expounders and interpreters of a legal system given in its entirety to [[Moses]] on Mount Sinai. Yet he also vehemently rejected utilizing these disciplines in the Pentateuch, maintaining it was beyond human reach and wholly celestial in origin. Frankel never elucidated his beliefs, and the exact correlation between human and divine in his thought is still subject to scholarly debate.<ref name="MM">Michael Meyer, ''Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism'', Wayne State, 1995. pp. 84–89, 414.</ref> A similar negative approach toward [[Higher Criticism]], while accepting an evolutionary understanding of Oral Law, defined Rabbi [[Alexander Kohut]], [[Solomon Schechter]] and the early generation of American Conservative Judaism. When JTS faculty began to embrace Biblical criticism in the 1920s, they adapted a consistent theological view: an original, verbal revelation did occur at Sinai, but the text itself was composed by later authors. The latter, classified by Dorff as a relatively moderate metamorphosis of the old one, is still espoused by few traditionalist right-wing Conservative rabbis, though it is marginalized among senior leadership.<ref name="AS"/><ref>Dorff, pp. 103–105</ref>

A small but influential segment within the JTS and the movement adhered, from the 1930s, to Mordecai Kaplan's philosophy, denying any revelation but viewing all scripture as a purely human product. Along with other Reconstructionist tenets, it dwindled as the latter consolidated into a separate group. Kaplan's views and the permeation of Higher Criticism gradually swayed most Conservative thinkers towards a non-verbal understanding of [[theophany]], which became dominant in the 1970s. This was in sync with the wider trend of lowering rates of Americans who accepted the Bible as the Word of God.<ref name="AS"/><ref>Dorff, pp. 107–108.</ref> Dorff categorized the proponents of this into two schools. One maintains that God projected some form of message that inspired the human authors of the Pentateuch to record what they perceived. The other is often strongly influenced by [[Franz Rosenzweig]] and other [[Jewish existentialism|existentialists]], but also attracted many [[Objectivity (philosophy)|Objectivists]] who consider human reason paramount. The second school states that God merely conferred his presence on those he influenced, without any communication, and the experience drove them to spiritual creativity. While they differ in the theoretical level surrounding revelation, both practically regard all scripture and religious tradition as a human product with certain divine inspiration—providing an understanding that recognizes Biblical criticism and also justifies major innovation in religious conduct. The first doctrine, advocated by such leaders as rabbis [[Ben-Zion Bokser]] and [[Robert Gordis]], largely imparted that some elements within Judaism are fully divine but determining which would be impractical and therefore received forms of interpretation should be basically upheld. Exponents of the latter view, among them rabbis [[Louis Jacobs]] and [[Neil Gillman]], also emphasized the encounter of God with the Jews as a collective and the role of religious authorities through the generations in determining what it implied. The stress on the supremacy of community and tradition, rather than individual consciousness, defines the entire spectrum of Conservative thought.<ref>Dorff, pp. 107–114.</ref>