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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do all you folks go to Conservative shuls that do not use the new mahzor? In addition to good translations (which they have always had, so I do not know why y'all do not know what you are singing) it has lots of good explanations, historical notes, as well as philosophy and poetry in English.

Also, if you are serious about any kind of Jewish culture, including secular it is good to learn some Hebrew.  Much of the Hebrew of the prayer book really is not that hard. Loads of words are used again and again.   [/quote]

NP. I know that you mean well but when you throw in words like "mahzor" you are not helping. Why can't you just say prayer book so that everyone who reads this understands what you are talking about? The Op speaks for so many people who don't want to affiliate with a congregation be it Conservative or Reform and that is why congregations are losing members (and conservative synagogues are losing at a higher rate nationally). With rare exceptions, everything is the same as it was 30 years ago and we are not changing to reach younger people (or, for that matter, older people who want something different). I am in my mid-40's and I loved going to the conservative services I was raised with. But I need something different now. I am actually on the board of my Reform Temple (in another city -- I used to live in DC) and it is really hard to change -- some members want change and some want everything to stay the same. Op is not unique. Just telling her to read the translations is not enough and it is not going to get younger people in the door (or they will be there while their kids need Hebrew school and then they will leave -- that's not a true community). There needs to be real change or synagogues/Temples are going to eventually start to close b/c Jews will find community elsewhere.[/quote]

I have sort of the opposite problem from OP. I was raised in a Conservative shul and it's what I know and love. We go to High Holidays services without fail, occasionally go to Shabbat or Saturday morning services, and will enroll our kids when they're old enough. But we won't join until the kids need Hebrew school because (a) it's too expensive and (b) we really only want the services. We have tried a few times to meet people at shul but we never click with them. It's like they're too Jewish for us. We don't keep kosher or Shabbat and we have lots of non-Jewish friends. When we meet other couples our age at shul, it's like their life revolves around shul. They do Shabbat every week and they have big get togethers and they go on religious retreats and they talk about Israel all the time. That's just not us. When we read the offerings for different groups or meetings or whatever, none of them ever appeal to us. And if one does, we don't have the time. We really just want to go to shul and that's it.[/quote]

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