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‘This isn’t second-class status’ |
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Written by Rebeca Kuropatwa
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Tuesday, 01 September 2009 |
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Winnipeg – Shaarey Zedek Synagogue has introduced a new policy of conducting same-sex commitment ceremonies.
The synagogue is one of the first conservative congregations in Canada to conduct commitment ceremonies. Winnipeg’s reform synagogue, Temple Shalom, has been holding commitment ceremonies since 1999.
Although this is the synagogue’s third step in welcoming same-sex couples into the community, Senior Rabbi Alan Green said, “In reality, this is the main, most significant step.”
In 2008, the synagogue took the first step by allowing same-sex couples to be buried in the same plot in a separate part of their cemetery. This year, the second step was incorporated, inviting same-sex couples to take out family (instead of individual) synagogue memberships. And now, the third step is providing same-sex commitment ceremonies.
“Same-sex ceremonies are something we haven’t had here before,” said Green. “We’re engaging in a new frontier. We’ve been getting word out about it and I spoke about it a couple of years ago on Yom Kippur.”
The overall feedback within the community has so far been positive, conveyed Green, “but from gay people, there hasn’t been any effect. In general, they’re far from the synagogue.”
In a commitment ceremony, one difference that sets it apart from a traditional heterosexual wedding is that while the traditional ceremony is considered a kidushin (literally holy; referring to a marriage between a man and a woman), the commitment ceremony is considered a brit (covenant/commitment).
Green said, “This isn’t second-class status or less holy. It’s equal, but just a different category.”
In the Talmudic tractate, Baba Batra, Green explained, “It’s written ‘the all merciful one exempts those who act under duress.’ Our reading of gays is they have no choice in who they are or who they’re attracted to, so G-d exempts them as they’re acting under biological or genetic force. It’s not an ethical choice. So, we can’t discriminate in Jewish law on the basis of sexual status.”
Green further cited that the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 23, which says “eunuchs [people without sexual organs] can’t enter the house of the lord [the temple]. Several hundred years later, the Prophet Isaiah says, ‘Let the eunuch not say ‘I’m a dry and withered tree,’ for thus says the Lord to eunuchs who keep My Sabbath and hold fast to my covenant – ‘I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer.’”
The rabbi said that this means “in the days of Isaiah, the sexual deviants (if you will) were eunuchs, and he made this very brave statement – that, in an ideal circumstance, eunuchs won’t be discriminated against and will participate in temple services. So, we can draw the analogy that it’s past time for us to bring gays into Jewish life.”
Shaarey Zedek has led the field in bringing people from all segments of the community into synagogue and community life, while also trying to preserve Jewish traditions for future generations.
“I’d like there to be huge crowds coming to synagogue on Shabbat the way some fundamentalist churches have on Sunday mornings,” said Green. “They do it by having a contemporary service and music. We need to revamp our approach to worship and then people may come.”
Green explained that younger people in the community are slipping away.
“Intermarriage is at a rate of about 70 per cent,” he said. “We do very few Jewish weddings now, as a Jew marrying a Jew is becoming passé. For three generations now in Winnipeg, Jews have been assimilated and practising to a minimal degree. But there’s still a need for community and a Jewish connection and maybe that’s the starting point.
“We have to improve our outreach, in general, and then people of all persuasions will feel more comfortable coming to synagogue. All we can do is try…but then there’s psychology, culture and the will of G-d. How it all plays out remains to be seen.” |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 September 2009 )
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