Both Proud and Ashamed
Last month I shared with Jewschool my pride at the steps being taken to include Gays in our Movement and the frustration I felt by those who seemed to be less than open to this.
Much has happened since that posting. The Law Committee that makes decisions of Halacha for the Movement opened the door to the ordination of Gays and to rabbis performing commitment ceremonies. This makes me proud.
One Tshuva (rabbinic responsa), also accepted, suggested that Change Therapy (also called Reparative Therapy) might be effective. Shame on the author and on those who voted for this antiquated idea.
We understand that the Ziegler School (University of Judaism) is already open to Gay applicants. The word is that JTS will soon follow suit. It seems that students, the rabbis, Conservative Movement activits, are being surveyed on a range of issues relating to our feelings concerning Gay inclusion. For this I am proud.
Last week our school (Machon Schechter- were we spend a year of study) invited us to hear from rabbis who held widely divergent views. The idea seems to be that this will help the school settle on a policy regarding ordination in Israel. For this I am proud.
The speakers on behalf of greater inclusion and ordination of Gays included Rabbi David Lazar and Rabbi Simcha Roth. Rabbi Lazar presented what could be described as a modern halachic approach. A philosopher of halacha, who also made a presentation referred to it as a Midrashic-Halachic view. Rabbi Lazar was the first Conservative rabbi to perform same sex marriages in Israel.
The second speaker was Rabbi Simcha Roth. Rabbi Roth spoke in a most sensitive manner. He too is pro-ordination and pro-commitment ceremony. He draws the line at the specific Biblical prohibition of anal sex. He authored a detailed halachic work on the subject.
Both rabbis seem to be respected in the Movement in Israel but nonetheless, at the same time, controversial.
Speaking against Gay ordination (and commitment ceremonies) was Rabbi Joel Roth. He was the only non-Israeli presenter. He spoke in Hebrew and showed respect for the Gay community even as he showed clear disdain for the Tshuvot of the more liberal rabbis. He said he is sure that the intentions of the authors of the more liberal Tshuvot were genuine and good. He touched on the possible danger of a split in the Movement over this issue. I was proud that he was able to respect those with whom he differed.
Two Israeli rabbis spoke against were Rabbi David Golinkin (seen as the top Halachic scholar for the Israeli Conservative Movement) and Rabbi Einat Ramon, the dean of the Schechter Rabbinical School.
Rabbi Golinkin offered a point-by-point criticism of the more liberal Tshuva passed by the Law Committee in America. He essentially said that it exceeded halachic boundaries and was just not valid. He showed little compassion for those who suffer as a result of the more traditional approach. He pointed out that Judaism couldn’t always find a way to alleviate the suffering. . He suggested (as would Rabbi Ramon) that people, who held the views of Gay inclusion of the sort that the Tshuva approved, would be best served to move to the Reform or to the Reconstructionist Movements. Gays themselves should continue to feel welcome to pray in our synagogues.
I am ashamed that this rabbi does not find a place for me, and many of my fellow students, within the Movement as he sees it.
The final speaker was Rabbi Einat Ramon. Rabbi Ramon, who sees homosexuality as a choice, feels that the “traditional family” is endangered. Conservative Judaism must protect the family from those with an agenda to see that it is destroyed. Those are the homosexuals who have already succeeded in this destruction within the Reconstructionist Movement. Only by standing strong can the family be protected. So, as dean, she cannot, and will not, allow her institution to contribute to the further breakdown of traditional family values, as she understands them. This most shames me. As though we, who disagree, want to destroy anything.
So there you have it. Two out of three ain’t bad for now. If Ziegler and JTS open their doors this will have been a momentous year. I can only hope that Gay students who spend their year in Israel will not feel too out of place.
*I am an American Conservative Rabbinical student spending this year studying and growing in Israel. I write anonymously out of concern for the unlikely possibility that my thoughts will be held against me.
Jewschool.com