Gay Rabbis

Breaking with millenniums of tradition, Reform Judaism last week became the first major U.S. religious body to adopt a national policy that sanctions homosexual behavior. "All Jews are religiously equal regardless of their sexual orientation," reads a new statement approved by Reform rabbis. While heterosexual marriage was declared to be the "ideal," same-sex relationships were deemed acceptable for those with no "conscious choice" but to be homosexual. The statement also welcomes "all rabbis regardless of sexual orientation," asking gay clergy for "discretion," not celibacy. Local synagogues were urged not to probe the sexuality of rabbinical candidates. Samuel Karff, the Reform rabbis' president, explained that his denomination weighs "not only the sacred text of Torah but also the knowledge of our own time and experience."