Conservative Jewish Group OKs Gay Rabbis

Leaders of the Conservative Jewish movement opened the door Wednesday to the ordination of gay rabbis and the recognition of gay marriage, but made it clear the more orthodox in the faith may go on opposing such liberalization.

"We as a movement see the advocacy of pluralism and we know that people come to different conclusions," said Rabbi Kassel Abelson, speaking for the 25-member Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards which issued a series of advisory reports.

"These . . . are accepted as guides so that the gays and lesbians can be welcomed into our congregation and communities and made to feel accepted," he added.

The statements issued by the committee are not binding on congregations or seminaries. One said openly gay people should be allowed as rabbis and that "committed gay relationships" can be recognized but not blessed. That statement also retained the prohibition in the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) against male homosexual intercourse.

In a separate vote the group also upheld a 1992 statement that advises against gay ordinations and the recognition of same-sex marriages. The result is a mixed approach that will allow both liberals and the more orthodox in the movement to pursue whichever policies they prefer.

With so much left to the institutions' and congregations' discretion, the issue was likely to go on stirring controversy in the movement.

Four members of the committee resigned after the statements were issued, saying they opposed the methods used to reach the conclusions in the paper liberalizing gay rabbis.

There are perhaps 6 million Jews in the United States, only about a third of them affiliated with a congregation. Of those who do attend synagogue 38 percent are Reform, 33 percent Conservative and 22 percent Orthodox, according to one survey.

The Conservative movement holds the middle ground between liberalism and orthodoxy and the gay issue is a matter of division within it, as is the case with many other faiths.

Rabbi Jerome Epstein of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in New York, asked what backing the two differing views might have, said: "Based on the e-mails and phone calls we have been receiving my guess is that it's very close to an even split at the moment."

Rabbi Elliot Dorff of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles said each of the rabbinical schools would hold their own discussions on the papers accepted by the council.

"I imagine each of the seminaries will handle it differently," he said. ""My guess is that within the next several weeks we will be announcing that our rabbinical school will be open to gays and lesbians because we have already had this discussion"

Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, said rabbis who so desire could start performing commitment ceremonies recognizing gay relationships immediately.