Something that is sorely lacking in The Conservative Movement is the presence of daily minyanim. Many Conservative Jews only come to realize the importance of communal daily prayer in the face of the death of a loved one, when they feel the need to say Kaddish. Conservative communities rarely stress, encourage, or even talk about the three-times-daily prayer requirement (even in abbreviated form) and there is no reason why this should be. The main reason why daily minyanim do not happen is that there is not an established critical mass of people who want to hold them. We will encourage communities to form “minyan-maker societies,” gather a minimum of 12 Jewish adults willing to commit to holding a daily minyan, whether in the shul, in someone’s house, in a park or recreation center. This will go hand-in-hand with programs for the teaching of ritual and daily prayer outside the synagogue.
Many complaints that I hear directed toward the Conservative framework center around the suburban sprawl issue that creates the megashul phenomenon. It is this environment which fosters the sense of “The Rabbi” as a distant and inaccessible priest-like figure, rather than his or her true role as teacher, which in turn widens the educational and practical gap between the laity and the rabbinate. It also, I think, creates the sense of Shul On Shabbat being a formal social event rather than a prayerful space of communal worship, discouraging active participation of the congregation etc.
Starting with existing shuls and pulling together groups of people who are serious about prayer and observance, creating geographic pockets of active and enthusiastic minyanim, worshiping and studying together outside of Shul On Shabbat and bringing their enthusiasm back into the synagogue, in turn inspiring others to do the same, until the megashul is so teeming with folks itching for Real Jewish Living that the shul breaks apart (but in a good mitosis sort of way, not the bad splintering sort of way) into small localized active and NON-COMPETETIVE communities.