Union for Traditional Judaism

The Union for Traditional Judaism (UTJ), founded in 1984, is a traditional, halakhic Jewish outreach and communal service organization. It initially called itself "The Union for Traditional Conservative Judaism" but dropped "Conservative" from its title when it broke with Conservative Judaism. In 1985, Rabbi Ronald D. Price was tapped to lead the organization as executive director and later as executive vice-president. He served in that capacity for 26 years until his retirement in 2011. He was succeeded by Rabbi David Bauman, and then by Rabbi Gerald Sussman, who was the organization's executive director as of 2018. In 1988, after attempting to effect change within Conservative Judaism, the UTJ membership voted to drop the word "Conservative" from its title. Following two years of negotiations, the Rabbinic Fellowship of the UTJ absorbed a Modern Orthodox rabbinic organization, the Fellowship of Traditional Orthodox Rabbis. The merged rabbinic body is known as MORASHAH, an acronym of מועצת רבנים שומרי ההלכה (mōʿeṣet rabbanîm šōmrê ha-hălākhāh, lit. 'Council of rabbis [who] guard the Halakha'). Some UTJ leaders have called themselves Conservative, Modern Orthodox, or trans-denominational. The UTJ's Institute of Traditional Judaism (ITJ; המתיבתא ללימודי היהדות) granted semikhah to a number of rabbis, though as of 2018 there are no current semikhah students. The UTJ's Panel of Halakhic Inquiry has published three volumes of responsa titled Tomeikh kaHalakhah. The UTJ produced the educational curriculum "Taking the MTV Challenge—Media and Torah Values," designed to provide high school students with tools to respond to electronic media. The UTJ is often viewed as representing a denomination or inhabiting an ideological space between Conservative and Orthodox Judaism.