Thanks for all of your responses, that was very helpful. I'm actually kind of unsure whether I agree more with orthodox or conservative Judaism. While I don't know that much about it, I am fascinated by halacha and would only want to join a stream of Judaism that was halachic. My main issue is whether orthodox Judaism or conservative Judaism is more true to the halachic system, which is more authentic. On the one hand, it could be argued that orthodox Judaism is more authentic because it adheres to long held halachic rulings regardless of whether they are inconvenient or against modern sensibilities. In this vain it could be argued that conservative Judaism comes to halachic conclusions to fit the wants and needs of Jews living in modern society. On the other hand, it could also be argued that authentic halacha should take into account changing social circumstances. The question I am trying to ask is, which stream of Judaism is more authentic in terms of halacha?
I tend not to think it's a helpful thing to try and play the authenticity game. Everyone claims authenticity.
Between Orthodoxy and Conservative Judaism, the question IMO is not which is/isn't authentic, the question is, how does the approach to halachah resonate with you, and how does the rest of the philosophy resonate with you, and what do you want your lifestyle to look like.
To be an observant Conservative Jew is to have an investment in thinking about halachic issues, looking at different responses to those issues, and making thoughtful choices about what speaks to the way you envision halachic observance. In that sense, it can be harder than being Orthodox, where the halachic answers are often-- sometimes quite literally-- much more black and white.
Orthodoxy today essentially seeks to keep halachah as static as possible, since they believe in a halachah essentially unchanging in any significant fashion since Sinai-- or at least since the time of the Rabbis of the Talmud-- and since they believe that the authority of rabbis to make halachah diminishes with every generation removed from Sinai. Their responses to halachic questions are therefore formulated to resist change, to preserve what they feel is a static past, drawing on the codes and rabbinic responsa of previous generations as fixed or even immutable laws that are difficult, if not impossible, to set aside or replace.
Conservative Judaism sees halachah as having always been evolving. It sees the Oral Torah given at Sinai not as a set of specific or concrete laws, but as a set of exegetical methodologies and legal principles, combined with the authority to interpret the Written Torah, which has passed to every rabbi in every generation-- though certain methodological tools and powers are locked (inaccessible, unusable) since the time of the Talmud and the ending of the Sanhedrin. Their responses to halachic questions, are therefore formulated to shape the inevitable evolution of halachah in order to keep it within the frameworks of Rabbinic Judaism, according to the methodological tools the Rabbis set forth in their expounding of the Oral Torah. Codes and rabbinic responsa of previous generations are treated as precedents to guide and shape the responsa of our generation and future generations-- weighty and extraordinarily significant precedents-- but not as fixed or immutable laws.
Both of these views of halachah-- the Orthodox and the Conservative-- have classical sources upon which they rely: teachings from the Talmud and the Gaonim, opinions of the Rishonim (rabbis of the Middle Ages) and Acharonim (rabbis since the Middle Ages). They are simply two different ways of looking at the same thing, two different ways of understanding halachah and treating it.
So the question is less which is authentic, and more what way of looking at halachah-- and by extension, all the issues in our lives with which halachah interacts-- resonates with you.
