Temple of Aaron of St. Paul will sanctify same-sex unions
By STEVEN ROSENBAUM
Temple of Aaron Synagogue will become Minnesota’s first Conservative synagogue to perform commitment ceremonies for gay men and lesbians in its sanctuary.
The St. Paul shul’s decision follows the guidance of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the umbrella group of Conservative congregations in the U.S., which, in December 2006, sanctioned same-sex commitment ceremonies to be performed in its synagogues, and also approved the ordination of gays and lesbians as rabbis and cantors.
In a Dec. 6, 2006, memorandum, Dr. Raymond B. Goldstein, the USCJ international president (and a Rochester, Minn., resident), and rabbi Jerome M. Epstein, then-USCJ executive vice president, announced that the group’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards approved responsa that would allow individual synagogues to decide whether or not they would hire openly gay rabbis and cantors, and allow same-sex commitment ceremonies to take place.