Reform Rabbis Urge No Bar to Gays in Clergy

A committee of rabbis in the progressive Reform branch of Judaism recommends that no restrictions be imposed on qualified gay and lesbian Jews who want to become rabbis, panel officials said Thursday.

Saying that Jewish tradition is squarely against homosexual behavior, the 17-member committee nevertheless unanimously adopted a guarded, but sympathetic, stance on an issue that has agonized liberal-to-moderate churches for decades. The recommendation came after a four-year, sometimes contentious, study of homosexuality and the rabbinate.

If the recommendation is approved by a convention of Reform rabbis next month, Reform Judaism would become the first large Judeo-Christian religious body to approve admitting acknowledged homosexuals to their clergy. Until now, the only approved ordinations have been sanctioned by local units of the Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ. Only the small Unitarian Universalist Assn. and the tiny Reconstructionist Jewish movement have adopted non-discrimination policies regarding homosexual aspirants to the clergy.

“Considering the history of discrimination against gays and lesbians in religion, I consider this a tremendous step forward,” said committee member Yoel Kahn, rabbi of Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco, one of four Reform synagogues that minister to homosexual communities.

The Reform branch of Judaism, with 1.3 million members nationally, is the largest and most liberal of the three major wings of American Judaism. Conservative Judaism, the next largest, steers a more moderate course in adapting Judaism to modern life. Orthodox synagogues, which strictly observe Jewish law, embrace about 10% of U.S. Jewry.

Delegates to the 101st annual convention of Reform Judaism’s Central Conference of American Rabbis could alter or reject the recommendations when they meet in Seattle next month. The initial reaction to the committee’s report has been favorable.

The committee’s recommendation follows a critical but little-publicized decision by the seminary that ordains Reform rabbis to write guidelines saying homosexual orientation is not enough to deny admission. The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, in Cincinnati, has admitted and ordained gay and lesbian rabbis in the past, but had never spelled out a policy.

The committee report said the seminary now “considers sexual orientation of an applicant only within the context of a candidate’s overall suitability for the rabbinate.” Two rabbis on the committee explained in interviews that a candidate’s sexual preference would not be asked, but the information, if volunteered by the applicant, would be considered along with other elements of the person’s character.

In issuing its recommendation, the committee conceded that it may be a divisive issue for many congregations because a rabbi is the spiritual leader and role model.

“While we acknowledge that there are gay and lesbian rabbis who are serving their communities effectively, we believe that there is a great need for education and dialogue in our congregations,” the panel said.

Because rabbis are expected to lead exemplary lives, the committee called upon all rabbis, regardless of sexual orientation, to conduct their private lives with discretion.

If delegates at the Seattle convention approve the committee report with little change, the rabbinical association would be endorsing the guidelines of Hebrew Union College. Late last year, Reform synagogues--the Union of American Hebrew Congregations--adopted a resolution to “place no limits on (the) communal and spiritual aspirations” of gay and lesbian Jews in their synagogues that indicated sympathy on the issue.

Rabbi Samuel Karff of Houston, president of the rabbis conference and a committee member, said by telephone that the committee’s final report was a good one.

“It was the best we could do with our tradition, and yet show sensitivity to our own time and experiences,” Karff said. “I hope the report will be passed without substantial changes.”

The rabbinical committee, however, declined to endorse wedding-like ceremonies for same-sex couples, saying that the issue is highly debated. Even so, it sympathetically addressed the rights and commitments of homosexuals.

“The committee strongly endorses the view that all Jews are religiously equal regardless of their sexual orientation. We are aware of loving and committed relationships between people of the same sex,” it said.

The committee was divided on the question of whether homosexuals consciously “choose” their sexual preferences but agreed it “is clear . . . that for many people sexual orientation is not a matter of conscious choice but (is) constitutional and therefore not subject to change.”

Committee members said their report reflected the rabbis’ strong concern over the possible reactions of other Jewish bodies, but decided in the end that “our decision should be governed by the principles and practices of Reform Judaism.”