24 April 11 • 2019
jn

Liberal Orthodox Yeshivah 
Won’t Ordain Gay Student
S

ignaling a red line on how far 
Modern Orthodoxy is prepared 
to bend to adjust to societal 
changes, a liberal New York City sem-
inary will not ordain an openly gay 
student who is engaged to be married 
and completing his fourth year of rab-
binical studies this spring, The Jewish 
Week has learned.
In a statement to The Jewish Week, 
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) stu-
dent Daniel Atwood, 27, wrote: “Four 
years ago I came out as gay during my 
first year … and it was decided that 
I would receive semicha [ordination] 
as their first openly gay student. After 
four years of study and my completing 
almost all of the program’
s require-
ments, YCT decided not to give me 
semicha, news delivered to me only a 
few weeks ago, three months before 
my graduation, without any prior con-
versation on the matter.
”
Atwood became engaged in the fall 
and is living with his partner.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, who was pres-
ident of YCT at the time of Atwood’
s 
acceptance into the school, is currently 
the spiritual leader of Kehillat Etz 
Chayim in suburban Detroit. He is 
also the founder of the Center for Civil 
Discourse here. He was dismayed by 
the school’
s decision.
The decision marks a turning point 
for the school, which has served for 
nearly 20 years as the flagship insti-
tution for a subgroup of Modern 
Orthodoxy often dubbed “Open 

Orthodoxy.
” Founded in 2004 by 
Rabbi Avi Weiss as an alternative 
to the more right-leaning Yeshiva 
University, the school has ordained 
more than 100 rabbis.
The decision on Atwood is being 
perceived by some as an attempt by 
the yeshivah to more firmly ground 
itself in the traditional Orthodox 
world, which maintains that Jewish 
law prohibits homosexual relations. 
“I always knew that being in the 
position that I am in would be a dif-
ficult process,
” Atwood wrote. “I was 
always willing to navigate those chal-
lenges and work with YCT through-
out this process. And I have always 
been fully committed to living my 
life according to Orthodox Halachah 
[Jewish law]. At the same time, I refuse 
to live anything but a dignified life, 
something I was always transparent 
about, including not being closeted or 
secret about my Torah, my identity, my 
beliefs or my relationship.
In his statement, Atwood said he is 
pursuing an independent ordination.
Rabbi Dov Linzer, YCT’
s president 
and rosh yeshiva, declined to com-
ment on the specifics of the case.
“We accept all students regardless of 
sexual orientation, provided they are 
fully committed to Orthodox halachic 
observance,
” he wrote in an email. 
“There have been students in the past 
who did not receive semicha, each 
one for reasons specific to his case. 
Out of respect for all our students, the 

jews d
in 
the

SHIRA HANAU/JTA

“I’
ve never been more disappointed in 
Modern Orthodoxy and its institutions.”

— RABBI ASHER LOPATIN 

continued on page 26

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Detroit Public Schools Community 

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