Usenet group: soc.culture.jewish From a thread titled: Kosher kitchen w/non-kosher roommates?

Speaker 1: "I'd just like to add a Conservative Jewish spin on this. From a Conservative point of view, we try to recognize that although halakha truly is binding on Jews (normative), many people are unwilling to dive into being Shomer Mitzvot (as observant as possible of all Jewish law). We believe that people who only fulfill some of the mitzvot are indeed doing good, and are recognized by the Creator as such. Still, no person should ever be satisfied with their current observance and education. We teach that each of us should, indeed must, study Torah (and Jewish works in general) on a weekly (if not daily) basis, and should always strive to climb the ladder of learning and -doing- mitzvot."

Speaker 2: "I've always kind of wondered about this - if a conservative Jew is always supposed to work up to being more observant, are you saying that we should ultimately become Orthodox? If not, then where do we stop on our quest of being more observant?"

Speaker 4: "Since Conservative Judaism believes in observing the mitzvot, there is no "stopping point" to becoming more observant. The difference between Conservative and Orthodox Judaism is one of interpretation, not of observance."