Conservative Jews to Consider Ending a Ban on Same-Sex Unions and Gay Rabbis
NY Times reports on upcoming meeting of the Conservative movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards:
“There are those who are saying, don’t change the halacha because the paradigm model of the heterosexual family has to be maintained,” said Rabbi Meyers, a stance he said he shared. “On the other hand is a group within the movement who say, look, we will lose thoughtful younger people if we don’t make this change, and the movement will look stodgy and behind the times.”
Several members of the law committee said in interviews that while anything could happen at their meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than enough votes to pass a legal opinion (a teshuvah in Hebrew) that would support opening the door to gay clergy members and same-sex unions. The law committee has 25 members, but only six votes are required to validate a legal opinion.
Many students at the seminary say they find the gay ban offensive and would welcome a change, said Daniel Klein, a rabbinical student who helps lead Keshet, a gay rights group on campus. “It’s part of the tradition to change, so we’re entirely within tradition,” he said. Mr. Klein said that even if the law committee did not lift the ban this week, change would come eventually.
….
“Imagine what will happen 10 years from now when some of my colleagues are on the law committee, when people from my generation are on the law committee,” he said. “It’s not going to be a close vote.”
-c/o Keshet JTS
Here’s my favorite part:
““It’s part of the tradition to change, so we’re entirely within tradition,†he said. ”
Wow.
God bless our LGBT, Conservative friends. They have to put up with this HOW many decades after Stonewall? Regardless of what the committee decides, it’s a black mark for Conservative Judaism to have been this intolerant, for this long.
“we will lose thoughtful younger people if we don’t make this change, and the movement will look stodgy and behind the times.â€
While my heart goes out to the people that this effects, is that really a valid reason to change halakha?
Is there a way that it can be an actual legal decision, and not Jewish law by popularity contest? I struggle with this.
I have to say the Conservative movement wants to expand right well if you have synagogues the consist of Gays who have not childeren i guess thats not the best way to do this is one of the last real differences between Reform and Conservative once this goes the Conservative movement will split for the third time and collapse in 25 years the first split was the left wing the Recon’s then the Traditionalist this will be the last Torpedo on a leaking ship
law states that marriage is between a man and a woman and this definition should not be expanded just to cater to liberal views on gender and marriage. popular views change all the time and we cannot reinterpret them to remain popular or ahead of the times.
If this law passes it will simply polarize the Conservative Movement, and people who didn’t leave the movement twenty years ago, when women started becoming Rabbis, will make a “second aliyah” to Orthodoxy this time around.
“There are those who are saying, don’t change the halacha because the paradigm model of the heterosexual family has to be maintained…We will lose thoughtful younger people if we don’t make this change, and the movement will look stodgy and behind the times.â€
I agree with yaaziel; that is NOT a good reason to change halacha. To put a spin on the Reconstructionist credo, modern culture and society should get a vote, not a veto. This is just another reason why I’ve been getting more and more dissatisfied with the Conservative movement — its inconsistency, eagerness to please everyone, and frequent failure to at least ATTEMPT to base halacha on the discernment of G*d’s will. I think this movement will continue to lose thoughtful people, not because of its “stodginess” but because of its concern about keeping up appearances. People respect movements with integrity, not insecurity and attempts to ride each cultural wave that comes along.
FYI, I’m also ambivalent about the inclusion of gay/lesbian clergy, I just wish there was a better way to combine compassion, tradition, and faith than what the CJLS has been doing.
Why do the above comments presume that the only reason to change the rules is to win a popularity contest? Check out R. Steve Greenberg’s book – there are plenty of reasons within the system to change things. And Uberkvetcher, who says Gay and Lesbian families don’t have kids?
Simon, I’m just arguing with the way the C movement seems to be going about this. Winning a popularity contest isn’t the only way, but it seems like the path they are taking. It’s the kind of methodology that is driving me from the movement, not this particular issue. It’s a symptom of a malaise, as flurry writes.
there are so many ways to halakhically get around the prohibitions on anything having to do with homosexuality it’s not even funny. all that’s lacking is the will.
admittedly, if they do make the change and they don’t bother to ground it in any of the numerous valid halakhic moves, then they’ll be making a grave mistake and will deserve whatever loss of support should follow.
I was very against gay marriage in general. I am a Conservative, religious and political. But here is the deal…don’t make decisions until you have been in those shoes.
My very straight seeming Uncle is gay…has been his whole life. Who cares..he has had the same partner since I was a baby. He was always his “good friend”. Ok no biggie.
But when my dear Uncle had a heart attack, his partner of 40 years, could NOT visit him…only family members could…only family members could make decisions for him…
( yes I know all about medical directives, POA’s etc)
So I changed my mind, and decided that if they were “married” it would not bother me one bit.
Marriage in the shul is a little push for me…I am not there yet!
Intermarriage in the shul is also a no go for me.
All the ding dongs that say gay marriage is a threat to male/female marriage are NOT secure in their own marriage.
My husband and I made our vows under the Chuppa with Hashem. No one can come between us 3.
While my heart goes out to the people that this effects, is that really a valid reason to change halakha?
Read the quote again. Given that this rabbi supports maintaining the status quo, is he a reliable source about the motivations of his opponents? You guys are wrestling a straw man to the ground.
If this law passes it will simply polarize the Conservative Movement
You mean it will reflect the polarization that already exists in the Conservative movement?
Rabbi David Wolpe is already arguing for a “new” Conservative Judaism: Covenantal Judaism
“Given that this rabbi supports maintaining the status quo, is he a reliable source about the motivations of his opponents? You guys are wrestling a straw man to the ground. ”
I agree with you 100%. There are many reasons to allow gay marriage and gay rabbis that have nothing to do with popularity.
I do not see how allowing gay marriage affects the heterosexual family one way or the other. If I have a gay couple living next, I don’t think that will make me change my life one way or the other. Gays have families too.
Having worked for the Conservative Movement for over 6 years, I can tell you that the empty pews on a Friday/Saturday night, and the very difficult process of getting a minyan during the week, signals the slow death of a once important relic of American Judaism (yes, I know it started in Europe, but it flourished in the US).
If this goes through, it’ll please the Brokeback Moutain folks, but only in cafes and malls. You won’t see longer line-ups at kiddush, so don’t worry.
I can’t really speak to the divisions within the Conservative Movement in the US, but I can tell you that as a Masorti Jew in the UK whose movement is affiliated with the Conservative Movement and JTS, I am not at all comfortable with the way this is being done.
I have nothing but compassion for all of my fellow Jews, and couldn’t care less what their political or sexual or any other leanings might be. Last time I checked, we don’t kick people out of shul for not keeping kosher so who am I to judge anyone’s sexuality. That is up to them and the Big Guy. And I’m not him.
That said, the sanctioning of same sex marriages is a very slippery slope if you cannot find some way through the halachic arguments and cannot substantiate decisions with interpretation. By this I mean looking at our traditions and halacha with the lens of history and coming up with an acceptable interpretation. Simply looking to change halacha without substantive argument isn’t enough, and I don’t consider augmenting halacha to suit modernity as substantive.
If someone knows where I can find halachic arguments to support same sex marriage I would be grateful as I would like to understand this side of the argument.
I second matityahu. Let’s hear the halakhic arguments for it. I would love to be able to agree.