Jewish Group Urges Full Equality for Homosexuals : Reconstructionism: The proposal includes allowing rabbinical sanctions for same-sex marriages.

In a statement that goes beyond any previous assertion of homosexual rights by a Jewish denomination, a group representing Reconstructionist Judaism has called for “full and complete equality of homosexuals in Jewish life,” including rabbinical sanctions for same-sex marriages.

The statement came in a 40-page report adopted by the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot. While not explicitly calling for rabbinically sanctioned same-sex marriages, the report states that homosexual couples have as much right to committed, sanctioned relationships as do heterosexuals.

Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, executive director of the Philadelphia-based federation, acknowledged in an interview that the report does, in effect, grant legitimacy to same-sex marriages.

In a press statement released with the report, Reconstructionist leaders said the “complete and unequivocal equality” they have proposed for homosexuals marks a “first” in three millennia of Jewish history.

Traditionally, Reconstructionist leaders acknowledged, homosexuality was looked upon by Judaism as “an aberration resulting in a diminution of holiness due to spilled seed,” and as something that “undermines the family.”

Reconstructionist leaders said they considered traditional opposition to homosexuality among Jews as an expression of “respective periods in the evolution of Jewish civilization, but limited in its ability to inform our contemporary discussion.”

Reconstructionist Judaism, the newest, smallest and most liberal of Judaism’s four major branches, is organized into 70 congregations and havurot , which are informal study groups that are generally led by members of the laity. The denomination says it has 50,000 members.

Reconstructionism has had an influence on American Jews far out of proportion to its size. Its innovations have included the Bat Mitzvah rite, a coming-of-age ceremony for adolescent girls similar to the traditional Bar Mitzvah for boys. Innovations also include formal ordination of women and inclusion of women in minyans , or prayer groups. Those practices have since been accepted by Reform and Conservative Jews.