Transplanting Conservative Judaism from North America to Israel has stumbled over a critical yet overlooked obstacle: language itself. When key religious terms cross borders, their meanings shift dramatically, creating fundamental barriers to the Masorti movement's expansion in Israel. Through qualitative analysis of terminology usage across both contexts, sharp semantic divergences emerge in concepts central to Conservative Judaism's identity - from the basic meaning of "Masorti" versus traditionalism to models of synagogue organization and denominational categories. Israeli "masorti" traditionalists, whom the movement hopes to attract, often hold ideological positions at odds with Conservative Judaism's questioning approach to tradition. Similarly, North American synagogue models emphasizing community center functions prove ill-suited to Israel's distinct religious landscape. The comparative examination of these terms' function in North American versus Israeli contexts reveals that successful establishment of Masorti Judaism in Israel demands more than mere translation - it requires careful linguistic recalibration and adaptation to local conditions. Movement leaders face a strategic choice between assimilating into mainstream Israeli religious culture or maintaining a distinctive minority position, with each path demanding its own terminological and organizational framework.