New York – A flagship liberal Orthodox synagogue in New York will stop congratulating same-sex couples on their weddings following a complaint by the Orthodox Union.
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The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in the Bronx will no longer announce the weddings of its LGBT members in its newsletters in accordance with a policy dictated by the O.U., the largest association of Orthodox synagogues in the United States. The policy was set out this month in response to complaints from other member synagogues, which take a harder line on opposing same-sex marriage.
Orthodox Jewish law, or halacha, prohibits same-sex marriage, and Orthodox rabbis are not permitted to officiate at same-sex weddings. The Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements permit same-sex marriage.
“It is the OU’s unequivocal position that support for, or celebration of, halachically proscribed conduct is fundamentally inappropriate,” the O.U. statement reads, according to the Five Towns Jewish Times. “Accordingly, the institutional endorsement or encouragement (implicit or explicit) of any conduct that is contrary to halacha is activity that no Orthodox synagogue should allow.”
The statement said the O.U. is reviewing its congregational standards before taking further action.
The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, which has long served as a leader in pushing the bounds of traditional Jewish law to include women and LGBT Jews, has been friendlier to same-sex couples. It counts same-sex couples among its members and last year hosted a panel on LGBT Jews in Orthodoxy called “Building a Jewish Future Outside the Closet.”
Its founding rabbi, Avi Weiss, was one of the signatories of a landmark 2010 statement of principles by Orthodox leaders affirming the need to “treat human beings with same-sex attractions and orientations with dignity and respect.”
The synagogue’s clergy do not officiate at same-sex weddings, but the synagogue began including same-sex marriages in its announcements earlier this year. Following the O.U. statement, however, the Hebrew Institute’s rabbi, Steven Exler, confirmed to JTA that the announcements would stop.
Mordechai Levovitz, executive director of Jewish Queer Youth, which focuses on LGBT Orthodox teens, said the O.U. policy will only inflict further damage on that group. He said that 70 percent of the kids who come to his group’s weekly Drop-In Center in Midtown Manhattan report being suicidal.
Levovitz added that he does not blame the Hebrew Institute for its decision following the O.U. statement.
“We have very, very real issues when it comes to LGBT youth in the Orthodox community,” Levovitz said. “HIR is a wonderful shul and it treats its LGBT people wonderfully. It’s the O.U. that’s making a big deal out of this. It’s the O.U. that’s deciding to focus on congratulatory wording and not children and teens who are physically and mentally at risk.”
If a shul is open to letting gay people be members and treats them with dignity then that should be enough. A shul can’t ratify something assur. Respect works both ways. You join an Orthodox shul, no one is going to ask you who you sleep with and you have no reason to go out of your way to publicize your orientation to the shul. There are places where don’t ask don’t tell is appropriate.
“treat human beings with same-sex attractions and orientations with dignity and respect.”
yes and this is the point liberal fake jews don’t get. We respect the gay community as our jewish brother but we don’t recognize you as a jewish gay. You are simply a jew. When one of our brothers or sisters are OTD we are not recognizing you as an OTD rather as a jew. You get all the dignity and respect you deserve as a jew but why would we respect the sin aspect of it? Yes we understand that its your struggle and we all have tavious and yetzer hara’s. Noone is judging you for the sins you do. Its perhaps out of your control.Many struggle with substance abuse and alcohol too And we won’t participate or encourage that sinful ceremony. But that does not mean you are not welcome or respected.
HIR kudos to you for not being too proud to accept OU admonishment. No doubt this decision will dishearten members of your kehilla but nonetheless you made a brave decision. It is a shame that you must bear the brunt of so much hate and serve as orthodoxy’s scapegoat. Please know that you have many fans that know you only want that people shouldn’t feel the sting of rejection. There are some well meaning people that believe it’s rachmanus overriding values. I was pleasantly surprised to see that instead of pouring further gas onto this fire you instead lowered the volume by accepting and diplomatically resolving a possible rift.
technically ssm not forbidden acting upon it is vurt the act of binding two people together in an imitation of matrriage is not even mentioned in halacha because it doesn’t to adnything atnd there is not rally andy cause for forbidding anything based on morality alone when it’s all a human idea of what the truth might be and cultural differences are the same
how can a “shul” that allows for the PUBLIC promotion of a clear toeiva from the Torah be considered Orthodox? I really doubt we can trust the OU hechsher as well since they have a “liberal” interpretation of halacha, maybe next they’ll say shrimp is kosher.
It is beyond belief that the OU had to intervene to have them stop announcing these marriages. It’s just a matter of time, before the OU has to cut them loose. In 10 years, this facility will no longer be in the “Orthodox” world, because halacha is not their priority. It seems that it’s about increasing membership.
Thank you for an interesting discussion.
fools! the Torah forbids homosexuality clearly and no matter what secular society says it is forbidden.
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22)
“If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” (Leviticus 20:13)
so what kind of Orthodox are these idiots who run such a shul?
Perhaps off track but I am very curious: After a wedding of homos do they go into the Cheder Yechud? Anybody know?