http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/691226.html
Last update - 00:24 10/03/2006
Conservative movement postpones
decision on same-sex marriages
By Shlomo Shamir,
Haaretz Correspondent
NEW YORK -
The Conservative movement decided
Wednesday to postpone until December
2006 making a final decision on
recognizing gay marriage and allowing
homosexuals to be ordained as rabbis,
a move that is threatening to split
the movement.
The movement's Halakhic (Jewish law)
committee discussed the initiative
Wednesday but it was decided to
delay making a final decision.
One of the Conservative movement's
leading rabbis in New York,
who requested to remain anonymous,
told Haaretz on Monday that the
initiative's approval would cause
broad resistance among the movement's
rabbis and congregation members,
and that many would leave the movement.
Rabbi Joel Myers,
chairman of the movement's
"Rabbinical Parliament" told
Haaretz that reports of
a possible split were
exaggerated.
"Recognition of gay marriages and of
homosexual rabbis creates tensions due
to the conflict between the principles
of Jewish law and the values of our time.
However, this issue is not central
or critical to our movement," Myers said.
The movement's Halakhic committee is
expected Wednesday to overturn the
decision made by the same committee
in 1992,
which banned gay marriage and prevented
homosexuals from entering the movement's
rabbinate.
Myers, who will take part in the
committee's debate on the issue but
will not vote,
said that the committee may not
reach a decision on the issues and
that the dispute could continue.
The location of the committee's meeting
has been kept secret to ensure that the
rabbis feel free from external pressures.
Allowing for gay marriage and for
homosexual rabbis represents far-reaching
changes in the movement's principles.
The initiative's approval would bring
the Conservative movement ideologically
closer to the Reform movement and would
likely cause a rupture between the
Conservative and Orthodox movements.
The Conservative movement is the only
movement among the four Jewish movements
active in the United States that has lost
a significant amount of members in the
last number of years.
Over the last decade,
the percentage of Jews who identify
with the Conservative movement has
dropped from 43 percent to 33 percent,
while the Reform movement has grown from
35 percent to 39 percent and the Orthodox
movement has grown from 16 percent to 21
percent.
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