The numerous reports of the death of Judaism’s Conservative movement have been exaggerated, write Jack Wertheimer, Steven Bayme, and Steven M. Cohen. Conservative Jews indeed make up a smaller proportion of American Jewry than they did a few decades ago, but by other metrics the denomination is in no danger:
[Firstly], the Conservative proportion of the non-Orthodox Jewish population is holding steady. . . . What’s more, Conservative Jews have higher birthrates than Reform and non-denominationally identified Jews. Their intermarriage rate is [also] far lower than for other non-Orthodox Jews. For those marrying since 2000, 39 percent of Conservative-raised Jews married non-Jews, as compared to roughly 80 percent for those raised as Reform or nondenominational. Conservative Jews are far more likely to enroll their children in more intensive forms of Jewish schooling and summer camping than other non-Orthodox Jews.
Among members of Conservative and Reform synagogues, large gaps open between them when they are asked about their attachment to Israel, attendance at Shabbat services, involvement with Jewish organizations, and the importance of being Jewish in their lives. On all of these and other measures of Jewish involvement, Conservative congregants are far more engaged than their Reform counterparts.
Read more on JTA: http://www.jta.org/2015/10/12/news-opinion/opinion/op-ed-on-conservative-judaism-why-all-the-talk-about-failure