handful of complaints, but consider-
ably more calls supporting the fund.
"There hasn't been an uproar, " said
Steven Nasatir, president of the
Chicago federation. He said objet tions
have come primarily from traditional
and Orthodox Jews who believe that
homosexual behavior violates Jewish
law and should not be encouraged.
Rabbi Joseph Ozarowski, executive
director of the Chicago Rabbinical
Council, an umbrella organization of
Orthodox rabbis, said the Orthodox
community does not support the
fund. However, "the fact is, people
who have different sexual orientations
are still part of the Jewish community
and are still entitled to what everyone
else is entitled to," he said.
Rabbi Avi Shafran, spokesman for
the Orthodox Agudath Israel of
America, based in New York, was
more critical. "Earmarking funds for
activities or projects that specifically
are aimed at the gay community is as
outrageous as it would be to earmark
funds for projects in the wife-swap-
ping community," he said.
The fact that there has been little
objection to the Chicago fund, Rabbi
Shafran said, simply indicates that
"the Orthodox community in most
cities has become so disillusioned with
the federations that they probably just
write it off as, 'people running the
federations don't share our values, so
what more can we expect of them?"'
In reaching out to gays and lesbians,
several observers say, federations are
acting in their financial self-interest.
"It doesn't take a lot of money to do
the right thing," said Alvin Baum,
one of three openly gay individuals on
the San Francisco federation's board.
"The issue for lesbian and gay people
is being sure that they are welcome,
that people are aware of their exis-
tence and the occasional special
need." In addition, said Baum, who
heads the federation's gay and lesbian
task force, "there's a significant
amount of money in the gay and les-
bian community."
In addition to the financial incen-
tive, the growing acceptance also
reflects the fact that gays and lesbians
enjoy greater acceptance in U.S. socie-
ty in general, particularly in the afflu-
ent, highly educated, politically liberal
circles that American Jews tend to fre-
quent.
"People today acknowledge that
even though they may not know a les-
bian or gay person, the person sitting
across from them may have a brother,
sister, child or neighbor who's .gay or
lesbian," Chicago's Lederman said. E

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