Will gay rabbis be made kosher?
From: Rosner's Blog
Shmuel Rosner, Chief U.S. Correspondent
Friday, March 3 05:10
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml

"What should the Jewish Conservative movement decide?

A documentary film about female rabbis was nominated for an important award this week. It's called "And the Gates Opened: Women in the Rabbinate," and deals with the earth-shaking decision by Conservative Judaism to ordain women as rabbis, 20 years ago.

This is an intriguing coincidence, as next week, a crucial decision of the same magnitude, and maybe even more divisive, is slated to be taken. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is about to take on the most controversial issue this movement has tackled since it debated ordaining women as rabbis: whether to reverse the ban on same-sex marriages and the ordination of openly gay clergy.

The Conservative movement has so far opposed ordaining openly gay rabbis, supported only traditional marriages and prohibited rabbis from carrying out gay "commitment ceremonies." Most of all, it rejected the notion that the homosexual and the heterosexual lifestyles are morally equal.

The law committee consists of 25 members, some lay leaders, some rabbis. The question they are dealing with is one that's long been debated among members of the movement, and some people are eagerly awaiting the results that will determine their own future as part of the movement. If gays are accepted, many opponents will distance themselves. They might become an independent small branch between the Conservative and the Orthodox camps. If gays are denied again - as happened 13 years ago - those on the "liberal" side of the Conservative movement might join the Reform movement.

Four different opinions will be considered by the committee. Some rabbis, among them Gordon Tucker and Robert Fine, represent those who want the ban to be eliminated; Joel Roth, the rabbi who authored the 1992 decision against ordaining gay rabbis and conducting gay marriage, still doesn't see any reason to allow it. One middle-of-the-road opinion calls for banning male anal sex (the practice that's explicitly prohibited by the Torah) but permitting some other forms of sexual relationships.

Congregants, as well as rabbis (and even more from rabbinical students - one of whom contacted me with this story), over the last two years have constantly pressed to reconsider the question of conservative gays. In conversations I had today I learned that the committee will consider several optional courses of action.

The more conservative option is to keep in place all prohibitions (homosexual sex, marriage and ordination); the most liberal is to overturn the prohibition on all issues. Half-way options are also under consideration.

The debate, in essence, concerns the teachings of Halacha - Jewish law - although one could say that the arguments for and against may be wrapped in the archaic language of Halacha but are heavily influenced by social trends and popular convictions. The biblical verse on which the debate will focus is the one stating "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman."

But does it mean no relations between man and man, woman and woman are allowed?

The committee may need to discuss issues such as whether two men can be together if they don't have "actual sex" - whatever that means. Committee members could possibly end up disappointing those who demand a decision, and let different groups follow different decisions for themselves, as they deem right.

"I don't care if they let gays be rabbis,' a conservative rabbi told me, "I just don?t want them to pretend gay relationships and straight marriages are the same."

Another rabbi says the opposite: "The most important thing for me is that they recognize that gays have meaningful relationships ? the other things will gradually evolve."

So it's a lose-lose situation for the movement - but one that could not be avoided anymore. You want my guess? A compromise is imminent. Want another guess? 20 years from now, a movie featuring the lives of the first conservative gay-rabbis will be nominated for some important prize. And who knows, it could even win."
- posted by Izak @ 1:46 AM (0) comments