Word: jewish
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...vigils organized by the Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC) for victims of violence in Gaza. The PSC vigils—the group has held three in response to recent Palestinian civilian deaths in the Middle East—have come under fire from HSI members for their allegedly politicized nature. Jewish and pro-Israel groups had approached the PSC in an attempt to organize vigils mourning both Palestinian and Israeli civilian casualties, HSI President Rebecca M. Rohr ’08 wrote in an e-mail. “Sadly, the PSC refused...and insisted on proceeding with another of their...
...Conservatism is Judiasm?s third-largest branch, with some 1,600 rabbis worldwide. It is poised theologically between the liberalism of Reform Judaism and the (small-c) conservatism of Orthodoxy. On the upside, today?s decision reaffirmed Conservatism?s de facto position as America?s Jewish center, minding Jewish law but sensitive to shifts (in this case, toward greater tolerance) in the national social mainstream. On the downside, it also suggested once again that the center may not hold, and Conservatism itself may be increasingly split down the middle. As soon as the votes were taken, three members...
...lead, based in part on the biblical injunction that ?You shall not lie with a man as with a woman.? But many Conservative congregations have openly gay members, and pro-gay-rights sentiment is on the rise, especially among younger Jews. At the branch?s largest teaching body, the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, a group called Keshet has been handing out buttons demanding ?Ordination Regardless of Orientation...
...Keshet can now claim a victory, albeit of the ?three opinions? variety. The law and standards committee, the movement?s highest legal body, passed three teshuvas, or interpretations of Jewish law. The contradictory opinions are possible because a teshuva only identifies a legitimate interpretation, not the legitimate interpration. Rabbis and seminaries can now make their own choices without fear of contradicting Conservative interpretation. (The Committee could have passed a more powerful prohibition on gay rights, but declined to, after months of private negotiation...
...practical upshot is that there will be more same-sex ceremonies, which some Conservative rabbis have been performing already without official sanction. The University of Judaism, a seminary in Los Angeles, will almost certainly begin making gay rabbis immediately; New York's Jewish Theological Seminary will debate the issue and probably decide to follow suit. Two smaller seminaries in Argentina and Hungary may continue the no-gays route...