Monday, January 26, 2009
Homosexuality in Conservative Judaism
Some may argue that the Conservative Judaism movement emerged out of resistance to the Reform Judaism movement while some may argue differently. Nonetheless, conservative numbers are undeniably shrinking due to the closed mindedness of the Conservatives and the openness of the Reform Jews. For example, Reform Jews openly welcome gays and lesbians while Conservatives are tentative about their participation in the movement. The Torah explicitly prohibits homosexuality for both males and females. Because Conservative Jews go strictly by tradition, they disapprove of homosexual behavior as well. The committee on Jewish law and standards “…uphold the traditional disapproval of homosexual behavior and ban openly gay men and women from holding positions of religious leadership…(Wertheimer)” On the other hand, some members in the Conservative movement openly permit gays and lesbians in their practices. “When visiting American students at Schechter organized a ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the decision to permit gay ordination…(Harris, Ben JTA).” It seems as though the rules of Conservative Jews are not clear-cut and members should work on being clearer on their views towards Jewish homosexuals. Conservative Jews are unable to agree on whom they accept and this may be the reason why numbers are shrinking. In my opinion, I believe that the Jewish population is so sparse in the world and that Jewish movements should not be demanding or too exclusive on whom they accept. The Jewish religion, whether it is Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox, should be accepting of all humans no matter what their sexual orientation is. All humans were created equally and their sexual orientation should not hinder their religious practices or acceptance.
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In theory, Erika, this is a fine stance to take. But remember that the issue is not necessarily one of being "accepting of all humans." Rather, it's about trying to understand how certain actions and identities impact upon other identities. If, for example, Conservative or Orthodox Jews see movements for accepting homosexuality as liberalizing movements (and some movements openly describe themselves that way), then they might see the acceptance of homosexuality as bringing in a whole series of other changes that would threaten some of the core values of Judaism as they see it (note, by the way, that within the Conservative movement the focus is more on ordaining queer Jews as rabbis/cantors, not as much accepting them into congregations). I do not intend to promote any group's agendas; but in terms of trying to understand who people respond to certain discussions in certain ways, it's important to look for that larger context of interpretation in order to understand what leads people to react the way they do.
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