Conservative Judaism's struggle to retain its third generation stems not from commonly cited issues of Jewish law, theology, or education, but from a deeper challenge of intellectual elitism. While the movement aimed to synthesize traditional Jewish study with secular knowledge, this noble pursuit has inadvertently created a "rabbis' movement" that excludes many laypeople from full participation. Historical analysis reveals a stark contrast with the Rabbinic period's sages and Maimonides, who maintained religious excellence while ensuring accessibility through practical observance. Sociological data showing only 39 percent of Conservative children maintaining movement affiliation after marriage underscores this crisis. By comparing Conservative Judaism's approach to religious life with historical models from Jewish intellectual history, this research distinguishes between necessary religious excellence and problematic elitism. The movement's intellectually demanding framework, while academically rigorous, has failed to provide the unifying practical elements that historically bound Jewish communities across educational levels. To ensure its future viability, the Conservative movement must develop a distinctly Conservative mode of observance that can serve as a unifying factor among its various segments, following the Rabbinic model of emphasizing practice over pure intellectual synthesis. Such an approach could bridge the gap between the movement's intellectual elite and its broader constituency while maintaining its commitment to both tradition and modern scholarship.