Posted on 09/09/2006 6:50:59 PM PDT by Alouette
Committee of Jewish scholars likely to roll back ban on ordaining gay rabbis. 'It is simply not natural to demand that they remain celibate,' one rabbi says, adding that movement has to 'interpret God's will'
A key Conservative Jewish leader is organizing talks nationwide to tell synagogues that the movement will likely roll back its ban on ordaining openly gay rabbis by year's end. He and two religious law experts joining him at the meetings are trying to help congregations prepare for the confusion and discomfort to follow.
Rabbi Jerome Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in New York City, says a committee of scholars who interpret Jewish law for the movement will likely loosen the prohibition when they vote in December. At the same time, Epstein expects the scholars will endorse a policy aiming to keep more traditional congregations within the fold. Synagogues that believe Jewish law bans same-sex relationships still will be able to hire rabbis who share their view.
The vote by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards will test what Conservative leaders call their "big umbrella" allowing diverse practices within one movement. It will also signal to the wider community how far the Conservative branch will go to reinterpret Jewish law.
"The committee might accept—will accept, I think—two or more" policies, Epstein said at an August 24 meeting of New York Conservative Jewish leaders. "One that actually reaffirms the current position and at least one that will liberalize it."
'Law stands to cause pain'
The effect of the contradictory actions will be that local Jewish communities have more freedom. Conservative seminaries, along with the movement's estimated 750 synagogues and more than 1,000 North American rabbis, will get to decide which policy to follow.
"It could cause confusion, it could cause tremendous angst, it could cause tremendous tension, it could cause tremendous disagreement," Epstein said.
Rabbi Joel Roth, a leading religious scholar and a member of the Conservative Law Committee, questioned whether people with traditional Jewish views on sexuality will stay, even if the panel allows synagogues leeway to accept or reject gay relationships. Roth said he has been "demonized" for saying that he interprets religious law as barring same-gender sex.
"I know the law as it stands causes pain," he said. "But pain is not to be equated with immorality."
Interpreting God's will
Rabbi Elliot Dorff, vice chairman of the Law Committee and also a respected scholar, supports ordaining gays, saying "it is simply not natural" to demand that they remain celibate.
"We have to interpret God's will in our time," Dorff said.
Dorff and Roth are traveling with Epstein, with more stops scheduled for Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. The trio also spoke last month in Toronto.
The debate focuses on the significance of Leviticus 18:22, which states "Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman," and 20:13, which says such an act is punishable by death. The last major Law Committee vote on gay relationships came in 1992, when the panel decided overwhelmingly to maintain the ban on openly gay rabbis.
Arnold Eisen, incoming chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, the flagship school for Conservative Judaism, personally supports ordaining gays. But he plans to discuss the issue with faculty and students before any admissions rules are changed.
Officials at the [Reform] University of Judaism in Los Angeles, which also trains Conservative rabbis, say only that they will follow whatever policy the committee adopts. However, Dorff is the school's rector and many expect the seminary, if permitted, will admit openly gay students.
>> Leviticus also declares polyester a sin. <<
No, polyester is only one fiber. It's those cotton-polyester blends that are the problem. If you're going to make willfully ignorant comments by driving context-deprived quotes to absurdity, at least get the quote right.
Nothing funny at all. Hegelianism is the curse of the world today. It is today considered unthinkable to go back to the (in some ways) saner days of 1959 because that would be "theocracy." Yet America in 1959 wasn't a theocracy. Oh, but it would be today!
Free Republic is itself full of atheists who insist that as the world evolves and develops that an objective moral order is evolving spontaneously right along with it . . . in the words of Hegel, "the universe is creating G-d."
This notion of continually "onward and upward," of a constant impulse towards progress in a universe that at first had no meaning whatsoever, is what justifies every ideology that rejects the eternal laws given by G-d.
"Conservative Judaism" is one of the non-Orthodox so-called "branches of Judaism" and has nothing to do with conservatism.
There are two categories of Divine Law: TaRYa"G Mitzvot (the 613 Commandments of the Torah) for Jews, and Sheva` Mitzvot Benei Noach (the Seven Laws of the Sons of Noah) for non-Jews. There are many, many, many of the 613 Jewish commandments that not only are not binding on non-Jews, but which they are actually forbidden to observe (Shabbat, Yom Tov, Tefillin, etc.). Others may be adopted volunatarily provided that it is understood that this is a matter of personal choice for devotional reasons.
Male homosexuality is one of the acts that is declared a capital offense for both Jews and non-Jews (others being idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, incest, etc.). So I'm afraid that the fact that non-Jews are not forbidden to wear sha`tnez has nothing to do with the fact that male homosexuality is forbidden to all mankind.
Female homosexuality is forbidden to Jews by Rabbinic decree, acting on the authority given to the Rabbis by the Torah. I don't know what the technical status of female homosexuality is for non-Jews. But after all . . . what can they really do? ::snigger::
Au contraire, they worship political correctness and just decorate it with some Hebrew rituals.
Leviticus 19:19 prohibits mixing wool/linen, wool/cotton. Synthetic fibers are excluded from this prohibition, nevertheless I have an aversion to sleeping on sheets that are not 100% cotton (or less than 400 count)
"If God does not judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah"
-Rev. Billy Graham
Looks like main stream judaism is a darwinian institution....it's only a matter of time before the entire religion disappears from the face of the earth.
Orthodox Judaism remains unaffected by the craze for gayness and political correctness. The Orthodox will remain (as they have throughout all history) while the other "liberal" streams slide into extinction.
Hope you are right. Hope the birth rate mushrooms in Orthodox families. But hope is not enough. Someone has to stand up for the right thing and protest loud and long. Someone has to take the heat and make the hard points.
While it does not specify marriage, the rationale behind this change in interpretation of Leviticus, is to allow them to have sex.
Rabbi Elliot Dorff, vice chairman of the Law Committee and also a respected scholar, supports ordaining gays, saying "it is simply not natural" to demand that they remain celibate.
Does Jewish law approve of extra marital relations?
It was primarily Zacharias Frankel's reaction to Abraham Geiger's "Reform" movement. Phooey on them both.
Anyone who is naiively sympathetic to the Homo agenda can look to the Catholic Church as what will happen when the percentage of Homos reaches a critical mass---all sorts of horrible things will happen.
Imagine a town where Homos have leadership positions in City hall, the police department, Chamber of commerce, public schools, and among lawyers. While homos make up a small % of the population, they will find enough "natural" allies among pro-aborts and philanderers.
A prayer for the Conservative Jews who apparently considered ripe for picking by the Evil One.
CORRECTION: The prohibition against shatnez only applies to wool/linen and cotton/linen. There is no prohibition again a wool/cotton mix.
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"Orthodox Judaism remains unaffected by the craze for gayness and political correctness. The Orthodox will remain (as they have throughout all history) while the other "liberal" streams slide into extinction."
I guess you never heard of the movie "Trembling Before G-d".
I consider the notion of continual "onward and upward" progress to be pecularily American. American civilization is young compared to that of a great many countries, and we have never experienced a long historical decline as have the Chinese, the people of India, the Europeans, Egyptians... No civilization remains perpetually rich and powerful. We've been very fortunate so far, but the USA won't remain rich and powerful forever.
But hey, this sure worked for the Catholics and Episcopalians, didn't it? /sarcasm
I have heard of the movie. It is homo agitprop, made by an openly gay director for the purpose of propagandizing the religious Jewish community.
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