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Dec. 15, 2006
Decision causes uncertainty
Conservative movement's vote on same-sex issues divides rabbis.
JEFF L. LIEBERMAN
Tamara Adilman and Sarah White are members of Congregation Beth
Israel and, together with their kids, Max and Ira, have been attending
the Conservative synagogue for several years.
The family celebrated Max's bar mitzvah at Beth Israel last year,
and Adilman can't imagine belonging to any other synagogue than
the one she grew up in, and which her friends and family call home.
As a family with two moms, the Adilman/White family has essentially
the same rights as any of the congregation's 700 families –
they can attend services, be called to the Torah and serve on the
board. They say they feel quite welcome in the congregation.
Adilman was in the back row the Yom Kippur morning when former Beth
Israel Rabbi Charles Feinberg gave a now-infamous sermon opening
up a conversation on the rights of gays and lesbians in the congregation.
"I was moved to tears that the rabbi was offering such an inclusive
and loving message," she said. "I felt the congregation
come together and I felt such love and warmth."
However, Adilman said the conversation never really continued and
that "things got quiet."
The conversation could now possibly be reignited, as Jews around
the world learned of a ruling this past Wednesday by the Committee
on Jewish Law and Standards, the central authority on halachah (Jewish
law) for the Rabbinic Assembly (the international governing body
for Conservative rabbis).
The committee voted on a controversial policy regarding the official
role of gays and lesbians within the Conservative movement.
The committee passed three conflicting teshuvot (opinions).
Two upheld earlier prohibitions on homosexual activity, but the
third endorsed commitment ceremonies and the ordination of gay rabbis,
while retaining the biblical ban on male sodomy.
The decision of the committee reflects the widely differing position
among the movement's rabbis, four of whom resigned from the committee
after the vote, stating that the decision to ordain gays and lesbians
violated halachah.
Rabbis are now officially allowed to bless ceremonies for same-sex
Jewish couples, and the movement's seminaries may ordain openly
gay men and lesbians as rabbis. It will now be up to individual
rabbis to decide which policy they will adopt on behalf of their
congregation.
For Vancouver's Conservative rabbis, the decision is not an easy
one.
Rabbi Jonathan Infeld has only led Congregation Beth Israel for
five months, and is still getting to know its members, but with
congregants like the Adilman/ White family, he could be forced to
take a position on the matter – one that could ultimately divide
the congregation.
"Currently, Beth Israel has a policy not to do same-sex commitment
ceremonies," Infeld told the Independent, "and at the
moment, the synagogue's policy has not been changed by the decisions
by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards."
Infeld said he was "still learning the culture of the community"
and that he regards the committee's ruling as "a complicated
decision that is not clear."
Rabbi Claudio Kaiser-Blueth of Richmond's Beth Tikvah Synagogue
echoed that this is a highly emotional issue with no simple answers.
"People want easy decisions but this is a lazy way of thinking,"
he said in an interview. "Life is not black and white and this
is a big, tough issue that needs to be dealt with with respect,
sensitivity and courage. This is what the committee has done. I
wish more people would take the time to read the teshuvot and then
make a decision."
Kaiser-Blueth has no problem with gays and lesbians taking on leadership
roles in the congregation, including being a rabbi, Hebrew school
teacher or president of the synagogue. But he is still debating
whether or not he will bless or conduct same-sex commitment ceremonies
at Beth Tikvah.
"I am evaluating seriously the entire issue based upon the
two main teshuvot that were presented," he said. "I believe
that there is so much prejudice, fear and lack of knowledge surrounding
the entire issue of homosexuality. Too many people are making quick
decisions based upon feelings, without grasping what is involved
in these cases or taking into consideration the data that comes
from contemporary studies or how the halachic process operates within
Judaism."
How long Kaiser-Blueth can debate the question remains to be seen.
Asked whether he would support blessing same-sex unions if his congregation
were to rally around the issue, the rabbi said he would have to
cross that river when he comes to it.
Kaiser-Blueth's larger concern is that there are those on either
the right or the left who are hoping that this issue will be the
fall of Conservative Judaism – a feeling he calls "Jewish
anti-Semitism."
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Reconstructionist Rabbi David
Mivasair of Ahavat Olam called the ruling a "positive direction"
and, in an e-mail to his congregants, explained it by saying, "God
is revealed into human awareness little by little in an ongoing
way through the ages."
Mivasair has officiated at several weddings between two Jewish men
or two Jewish women and is specific in the use of the term "wedding."
He said the ruling is a step in the right direction but that the
committee's use of the term "union" makes the decision
"flawed and insulting."
Mivasair said he was not aware of any other rabbis in the Vancouver
area who have officiated at same-sex weddings. He said he knew of
rabbis who have never performed same-sex weddings that would like
to, but would not receive the support of their congregation. "A
rabbi," he said, "needs to know that his decision will
be appreciated by the congregation."
Aside from Mivasair, all the rabbis interviewed asserted that they
have never had a request from any congregant to perform a same-sex
ceremony, although some admitted that they do have gay and lesbian
congregants.
"It's not just an issue for gays and lesbians anymore, but
for everyone," said Adilman. "Nowadays, everyone has an
openly gay member of their family in their life, and it's important
to know that your synagogue validates your family and affords them
the same privileges and rights."
Adilman sympathizes with the precarious situation Infeld now faces
and knows it will take time for him to make a statement. She also
admitted that the ruling is a bit unsettling. "I can't imagine
being a part of a synagogue that doesn't support my family,"
she said, "and if the rabbi doesn't support it, I don't know
what I'd do or where I would go."
Jeff L. Lieberman is a freelance writer living in Los
Angeles.
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