In an incident that underlines the tension between the US and Israeli branches of the Conservative Movement over ordination of gay and lesbian rabbis, the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem clashed this week with a group of visiting American rabbinic students.
Schechter's administration refused to allow a group of about 35 students to mark on Wednesday the one-year anniversary of the groundbreaking decision by the Jewish Theological Seminary, the movement's flagship rabbinic school in New York, to accept gay and lesbian rabbinical and cantorial students.
According to a press release put out by Schechter, Rabbi Dr. Einat Ramon, dean of the Schechter Seminary, met with the rabbinical students last week and requested that the event include an expression of the more conservative, equally authoritative, halachic opinion adopted by the Law Committee of the Conservative Movement that maintained the status quo by prohibiting the ordination of gay and lesbian rabbis.
This was the opinion adopted by the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary a year ago.
"However, the students who approached SRS stressed that they were interested only in their own personal celebration with their friends, and that they had no interest in noting the second halachic ruling," the seminary's press release read.
"Therefore, in joint consultation between Rabbi Ramon, Rabbi Danny Nevins, dean of the JTS rabbinical school, and the students themselves, it was decided that the appropriate venue for such a celebration would be at the park near the SRS campus."
Sources opposed to the Schechter decision told The Jerusalem Post that the students were threatened with disciplinary measures if they attempted to celebrate the anniversary on Schechter's premises. As a result, they were forced to move to the woods near the institute, in the Valley of the Cross. The source also said that the students were warned by Schechter not to speak with the news media.
Conservative students split on gay ordination anniversary
Jerusalem Post, Israel -
