Decision time on gays in synagogues

The mainstream Jewish community has not been in a hurry to embrace gay Jews as full participants in Jewish communal life.

A cursory reading of the Orthodox press reveals the vile and outrageous statements made by too many Orthodox rabbis. There are all too few Orthodox shuls where gays may feel comfortable if they are out of the closet.

Most ambiguous has been the position of the Masorti and Conservative movements in Israel and the U.S. Trying to be faithful to both Jewish law and to modernity, the Conservative Movement has sat squarely on the fence. In 1992 the Conservative Law Committee issued a Consensus Statement of Policy Regarding Homosexual Jews in the Conservative Movement, in which it announced, "We hereby affirm gays and lesbians are welcome in our congregations, youth groups, camps, and schools."

1. We will not perform commitment ceremonies for gays or lesbians.
2. We will not knowingly admit avowed homosexuals to our rabbinical or cantorial schools or to the Rabbinical Assembly or the Cantors' Assembly. At the same time, we will not instigate witch hunts against those who are already members or students.
3. Whether homosexuals may function as teachers or youth leaders in our congregations and schools will be left to the rabbi authorized to make halakhic decisions for a given institution within the Conservative Movement. Presumably, in this as in all other matters, the rabbi will make such decisions taking into account the sensitivities of the people of his or her particular congregation or school. The rabbi's own reading of Jewish law on these issues, informed by the responsa written for the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards to date, will also be a determinative factor in these decisions.
4. Similarly, the rabbi of each Conservative institution, in consultation with its lay leaders, will be entrusted to formulate policies regarding the eligibility of homosexuals for honors within worship and for lay leadership positions.
   

Making gays welcome

How could a gay Jew be made to feel welcome in a Conservative shul knowing that the rabbi may deny him honors? How could a gay congregant feel at home knowing that she could never aspire to be ordained?

congregations and institutions.

Their website states, "Through our understanding of Jewish sources and Jewish values, we affirm that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews may fully participate in community life and achieve positions of professional and lay leadership."

Younger rabbis signing on

Will Conservative rabbinical schools accept "avowed homosexuals" into their schools? Time will tell. But for now these rabbis, well over 10 percent of all Conservative rabbis worldwide, have added their names to a list that says that they will be available for counseling and/or advocacy.

The Rabbinical Assembly director, Rabbi Joel Meyers, has pooh-poohed this group. But if the numbers of young rabbis who have signed on is any indication - then a direction for the future is beginning to emerge and the Rabbinical Assembly leaders may be out of step with the will of much of their own membership.