The Conservative branch of American Judaism has formally approved same-sex marriage ceremonies, nearly six years after lifting a ban on ordaining gays and lesbians.
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards issued the ruling Thursday on a 13-0 vote with one abstention, said Rabbi Elliot Dorff, the committee chairman. The panel of scholars approved two model wedding ceremonies and guidelines for a same-sex divorce. Rabbis can adapt the marriage ceremonies for the couples.
“We acknowledge that these partnerships are distinct from those discussed in the Talmud as ‘according to the law of Moses and Israel,’ but we celebrate them with the same sense of holiness and joy as that expressed in heterosexual marriages,” the legal opinion states.
-full report at kansas city.com
Related articles
- Conservative rabbis approve same-sex marriage (Jerusalem Post)
- Conservative Jews give OK to same-sex wedding guidelines (queerlandia.com)
- A rabbi’s intellectual evolution on same-sex marriage (theglobeandmail.com)
