In a wide-ranging conversation, David Wolpe—the rabbi of a large Conservative congregation in Los Angeles, the author of several books, and a regular contributor to Time—outlines his views on theology, spirituality, the rabbinate, and his own personal experiences. Herewith, his comments on the future of his denomination. (Interview by Alan Brill.)

I think of Conservative Judaism as a movement suffering from a lack of self-definition. When it was a big-tent movement, people did not want to define it for fear of losing those at the edges of the tent. But mushy movements are not growing ones. So I still believe that it is essential for the movement to arrive at a single centralized vision. And it should be [the product of] a combined effort by all the organizational branches—the rabbinical schools, the Rabbinical Assembly, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism—with input from laity around the country. The very process of such reexamination will create dynamism, I believe, that will lead to other and better things.

But I believe deeply in its potential. Conservative Judaism takes modern scholarship seriously and is not afraid of its insights. It believes that in relationships lies the secret of our continuity. . . . And I believe that Conservative Judaism motivates people to see the larger Jewish picture. . . . That’s not a coincidence. Conservative Judaism at its best pushes people not only intellectually but communally and encourages them to think beyond their boundaries. It is, or should be, the commitment of a thinking Jew in the modern world.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.