Will gay rabbis be made kosher? [View All]

Friday, March 3 05:10
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.

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