'To r Id SPECIAL REPORT Change To Come from page 21 Photo by Rebecca Weiss Photography/Reprinted from Lilith Magazine, summer 2006 Conservative rabbinical students welcome the new decision. To explain the process and the decision to Jews in Detroit, the Rabbinical Assembly will hold a community meeting Thursday, Jan. 18, at Adat Shalom. Rabbi Nevins will lead the dis- cussion and other Conservative rabbis will speak to the subject. He plans to focus more on "what we're doing intellectually and spiritually. And I'll insist upon respectful dialogue even though there is disagreement." In a letter to his congregation, Rabbi Nevins sees the decision playing out this way: The split decision allows local congrega- tions, schools and other affiliated institutions and their rabbinic leaders to study the "papers care- fully and come to conclusions appropriate for their local context." "We do not know yet which, if any, of the rabbinical schools will begin to ordain openly gay and lesbian students:' Rabbi Nevins wrote. "Some rabbis may soon use the inclusive paper as a basis to perform commitment ceremonies without the actual wedding liturgy for gay and les- bian couples. "Regarding Adat Shalom Synagogue," the rabbi's letter said, "there is no immediate impact other than sending a stronger message to the larger community that gay and lesbian Jews are fully welcomed into our congregation, as are all Jews. "There are no plans to allow gay commitment ceremonies within our building. If such a change were to be considered, it would be with full consultation among the professional and lay 22 December 14 2006 leadership of our congregation!' Rabbinic Ordination? At the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, leaders long have made clear their intention to ordain gay rabbis if the law corn- mittee allowed it. At the Dec. 6 meeting, Rabbi Dorff, rector of UJ's Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, said he expects the semi- nary to announce a final decision within weeks. In New York, the Jewish Theological Seminary has been less forthcoming. Though he has said publicly that he supports gay ordination, incoming Chancellor Arnold Eisen promised to con- sult with faculty, students and the community before making a decision he emphasizes is not halachic in nature. A survey of opinion within the movement is to be conducted before reaching a final decision. "We are going to consider what we think best serves the Conservative movement and larger American Jewish com- munity," Eisen wrote in an e-mail following the decision. "We know that the implications of the deci- sion before us are immense. We fully recognize what is at stake!' Commitment Ceremony? Momentum has been building for years for a more permissive Conservative attitude toward homosexuality. Despite the com- mittee's 1992 decision upholding the ban on gay rabbis and com- mitment ceremonies, a number of Conservative rabbis do per- form such ceremonies. iN That number is expected to grow now that rabbis have received halachic sanction from the movement's highest legal body. "I think there will be a significant change,' said Rabbi Ayelet Cohen, a JTS graduate and leader of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, a Manhattan syna- gogue for lesbians and gay men. An outspo- ken proponent of changing the traditional prohibi- tion on homosexuality, Rabbi Cohen performed commitment ceremonies for gay couples even before the committee's decision. She said opponents of change no longer would be able to use the law committee's 1992 statement on homosexuality as an excuse to continue excluding gay men and lesbians from the movement. "According to the current posi- tion of the movement, gay men and women are lesser human beings than heterosexuals," she said. "Gay people can be kept out of every level of lay leadership in our movement. Until now, rabbis have been able to say, 'There's nothing I can do. My hands are tied!" But by deciding that continuing the ban on gay ordination and commitment ceremonies also is a legitimate position, the committee has ensured that local rabbis who oppose a change in policy will have a halachic authority to cite in making their case. There is considerably less ambi- guity at the movement's seminar- ies, where much of the agitation to change policy has originated. KeshetJTS, a student advocacy group, says a survey showed that eight out of 10 members of the JTS community would support ordaining gay rabbis. "I think that congregants are ahead of their rabbis on many issues, and this is one of them," said Rabbi Steve Greenberg, an openly gay Orthodox rabbi and senior teaching fellow at CLAL- the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. "1 can tell you that there are people who have wanted to go to the semi- nary to become a rabbi and have chosen to go elsewhere and will be thrilled that that option will now be open to them." One such person is Aaron Weininger, an openly gay senior at Washington University in St. Louis and a lifelong member of the Conservative movement. His decision on where to apply to rabbinical school hinged on the law committee's decision. "I would like to be able to apply to a Conservative seminary and, for both ethical and person- al reasons, right now that's not an option;' Weininger told JTA before the vote. Weininger said he would apply to the University of Judaism, but would also consider JTS if that became an option. Ways Of Interpretation Like other advocates of liberal- ization, Weininger said what's at stake is not just the status of les- bian and gay men in Conservative Judaism but the movement's entire approach to interpreting Halachah. He hopes the decision will lead to greater clarity in the way movement authorities negoti- ate the line between fidelity to tradition and the demands of con- temporary life. - "Morality is at the very core of law, and that law really drives us toward our aspiration of holiness and justice,' Weininger said. And so if we, in turn, interpret law to exclude people, we really violate the intent of the law" Rabbi Alan LaPayover, one of very few openly gay rabbis who have served as the spiritual leader of a Conservative syna- gogue — he was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College — called the decision "a very big step!' Given the nature of the Conservative movement's process, "they did the best they were able to do:' said Rabbi LaPayover, the former rabbi at Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, Pa. Given the multiple opinions allowed by the law committee, neither advocates nor opponents of change will feel compelled to adjust their positions. Still, many observers are hopeful that the decision will open a vital discus- sion within a movement that once was America's largest Jewish denomination. Meanwhile, Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, sees the decision as "another example of the Conservative movement's failure to adhere to any reason- able definition of Halachah. "We lament a view of Judaism that allows for the rejection of the values dictated by authentic Torah traditions:' he said in an official statement. Rabbi Menachem Creditor, a leading advocate for change within the movement, said JTS Chancellor Eisen's use of the committee debate as an oppor- tunity for discussion at the seminary is a step in the right direction. "That's a revolution',' Rabbi Creditor said. "It might be quiet, but I think it's going to change things on the ground because rab- bis can't ignore the inclusion of whichever teshuvot will be accept- ed. We can't ignore it. There's no hiding it. It's transparent" To see Rabbi Daniel Nevins' personal journal about the decision, do to JNonline.us and click on NEWS on the left menu. JN Story Development Editor Keri Guten Cohen contributed to this story. For an Op-Ed column by Rabbi Jerome Epstein, see page 28. Two upcoming events on the topic: • Rabbi Elliot Pachter will discuss the decision at a Stay and Learn session at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30, following services at Congregation B'nai Moshe, 6800 Drake Road, West Bloomfield. The session is open to the community. • The local Rabbinical Assembly will hold a com- munity meeting on the decision at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan.18, at Adat Shalom Synagogue, 29901 Middlebelt Road, Farmington Hills. Rabbi Nevins and other Conservative rabbis will weigh in.