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These rabbinical students welcomed the December decision allowing gay

rabbis and commitment ceremonies.

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Two Streams?

Admitting gay rabbis sparks debate
in the Conservative movement.

Ben Harris
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

New York

I

n announcing that gay and les-
bian students would be allowed
to apply for rabbinical training
at the Jewish Theological Seminary,
Chancellor-elect Arnold Eisen sound-
ed the movement's popular refrain
about halachic pluralism — the
notion that competing interpretations
of Jewish law can coexist under one
roof.
Eisen was seeking to mollify those
who have resisted liberalizing the
Conservative movement's traditional
position barring gay clergy.
Throughout the often divisive
debate over homosexuality, some
have warned that ordaining gay clergy
and allowing for same-sex commit-
ment ceremonies would shatter the
movement's commitment to Jewish
law and potentially lead to a split with
international affiliates.
Movement leaders in Israel and
Canada greeted Eisen's announcement
cautiously last week. But in a develop-
ment Eisen may not have anticipated,
talk of a schism was most prevalent
among supporters of gay admission
who don't think they should have to
tolerate halachic positions they con-

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sider at odds with Judaism's ethical
foundation.
"Where one person's pluralism ends
up excluding another person, I don't
think that's acceptable said Rabbi Jill
Jacobs, a 2003 Seminary graduate. "I
think that being an ethical halachic
movement is a much more compelling
reason to be part of the movement
than pluralism is."
Eisen's March 26 decision came
after months of consultation, includ-
ing the commissioning of a move-
ment-wide survey that found support
for the move among a majority of
Conservative rabbis, cantors, lay lead-
ers and seminarians.
"The decision to ordain gay and les-
bian clergy at JTS is in keeping with
the longstanding commitment of the
Jewish tradition to pluralism',' Eisen
said in a statement. "Pluralism means
that we recognize more than one way
to be a good Conservative Jew, more
than one way of walking authentically
in the path of our tradition and of
carrying that tradition forward.
"It means, too, that we respect those
who disagree with us and understand
that in the context of all that unites us,
diversity makes us stronger."
Pluralism is sometimes said to be
the defining feature of Conservative

Two Streams on page 28

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April 12 2007

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