title quote source: Rabbi Norman Lamm

from The Jerusalem Post:

Non-Orthodox Judaism disappearing

The Reform and Conservative Movements are disappearing, Yeshiva University Chancellor Rabbi Norman Lamm said over the weekend.

“With a heavy heart we will soon say kaddish on the Reform and Conservative Movements,” said Lamm, head of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post…

Regarding Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in Israel, Lamm said he doubted much would come out of it…

Lamm expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that historically, Orthodox Jews have refrained from interfaith dialogue with the Church.

“The people who have normally been speaking on behalf of Jewry have been secular and are not concerned with the Jewish religious point of view. It was a mistake for religious Jews to shy away. As a result, the ADL and the American Jewish Committee, who don’t always have believing Jews on their staff, have dominated.”

Regarding the ordination of female rabbis, Lamm said his opposition was “social, not religious.”

“Change has to come to religion when feasible, but it should not be rushed. Women have just come into their own from an educational perspective. I would prefer not to have this innovation right now. It is simply too early. What will happen later… I am not a prophet.”

update: a response from Rabbi Andrew Sacks, Director of the Masorti Rabbinical Assembly in Israel: Saying Kaddish for Conservative Judaism