Rabbis Will Serve
At Gay Synagogues
Fun Day
Sunday, July 12, 1992
1:30-4:30 p.m.
Jimmy Prentis Morris Jewish Community Center
15110 W. 10 Mile, Oak Park
and
Charlotte M. Rothstein Park
• '50s music by The Fantastics
• Red Rug Puppet Theater
with puppeteer Beth Katz
• Hora Aviv Folk Dancers
• Skatemobile •Food
• Clowns •Crafts
Sponsored by
Ccm® nabn
cm MIR®
Photo Exhibit depicting the
history of the
JPM
THE NEIGHBORHOOD PROJECT
In cooperation with Jewish Community Center, the City of Oak Park, Jewish Experiences For Families
and The Jewish News
For information: The Neighborhood Project, 967-1112.
The Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
Me & My Grandchild and Cultural Arts
presents
1/1
co-co war a
JOSH WHITS
BON COMM
ENTERTAINMENT
FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY!
Tuesday, June 30th
7:30 p.m.
Jimmy Prentis Morris Bldg.
Oak Park
THIS AD ENTITLES YOU TO A MAXIMUM
FAMILY PRICE OF $20.00
Admission: $4.00 per person
Tickets available at JPM & Maple/Drake Bldgs.
For information call 661-1000, ext. 341 or 314
sponsored by the Boaz Siegel Cultural Fund
42
FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 1992
KATHY HACK
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Kimesha Lake, N.Y. (JTA)
— The rabbis of the Conser-
vative movement have voted
to allow their colleagues to
work at gay and lesbian con-
gregations, effectively re-
versing Rabbinical
Assembly policy.
They also have decided to
create a commission that
will study human sexuality
over the next two years and
develop a Conservative
perspective on the issue,
which will be presented to
the rabbinic body and the
movement's Committee on
Jewish Laws and Standards.
The rabbis' decision on
serving gay synagogues is
binding only because the law
committee has not ruled on
the issue, according to Rabbi
Gerald Zelizer, the R.A.'s
new president.
The policy will be revoked
if the law committee decides
that it abrogates Halachah,
or Jewish law, he said.
The incoming chairman of
the law committee, Rabbi
Kassel Abelson of Congrega-
tion Beth El in Minneapolis,
expects that the panel's 30
rabbis will take up the issue
shortly.
Furthermore, any gay and
lesbian synagogue that asks
the Conservative movement
for help finding a rabbi will
be required to abide by law
committee guidelines, which
prohibit ceremonies of com-
mitment between same-
gender couples, said Rabbi
Zelizer.
Though the new policy
may be short-lived and may
not, in fact, lead to any gay
congregations hiring a Con- —
servative rabbi, it sends an
important message, say its
supporters.
"We're telling the corn-
munity of gay Jews that
there are many rabbis in the
R.A. inclined to serve them
as fellow Jews," said Rabbi
Mark Loeb, senior rabbi at
Beth El Congregation in
Baltimore.
"There are so many things
that people do in their lives
that are imperfect that it
makes little sense to harp
upon one aspect of non-
compliance with the cove-
nant, rather than look
toward the fundamental
commitment they have to
being Jewish," he said.
The new policy, adopted by
a vote of 64-50 at the R.A.'s
annual convention here last
week, calls on the R.A. to ac-
cept applications for rab-
binic placement from any
congregation "without con-
sideration of the sexual
orientation of its members"
and to afford R.A. members
"the opportunity to apply for
such positions."
The policy comes too late
to help the gay and lesbian
synagogue that sparked the
debate two years ago with its __
request for help in finding a
rabbi.
Eighty-three of the R.A.'s
1,400 rabbis have signed
onto the nascent group's
statement of purpose, which
so far has been circulated
quietly and only by word of
mouth.
Arab Killer
Captured After Attack
Tel Aviv (JTA) — A Gaza
Strip Arab who stabbed 15-
year-old Helena Rapp to
death at a school bus stop in
Bat Yam was captured
shortly after the assault and
taken into custody before
mobs of enraged Jews could
harm him.
The attack followed the
non-fatal stabbing of a
yeshiva student in
Jerusalem last week and
was the third knife attack by
Arabs on Jews in Israel in
May.
The latest victim was
buried at the Holon
cemetery.
Anti-Arab riots broke out
in Bat Yam, a seaside town
south of Tel Aviv, immedi-
ately after the murder and
spread to Rishon le-Zion and
other areas. At least seven
Arab laborers were attacked
and injured, two of them by
stabbing.
Rioters followed the lead of
members of the anti-Arab
Kach movement in the at-
tacks. The black-on-yellow
fist that is the emblem of the
movement created by the
late Rabbi Meir Kahane was
seen raised above the ma-
rauding crowds.
Rocks were hurled at Arab
cars, and some were over-
turned. A police officer suf-
fered a serious head injury
when struck by an iron bar
thrown by a rioter.
At least 24 Jews were ar-
rested, 12 in Rishon le-Zion
and 18 in Bat Yam. One
rioter being held was an off-
duty border policeman.