Iraq puts Gay Rabbinical Agenda on Hold
Conservative rabbis failed to reach agreement on a proposed resolution calling for a "timely draw-down" in American troops from Iraq.
At a passionate debate during the annual Rabbinical Assembly convention in Cambridge, Mass., the rabbis could not agree on a measure that described the military effort in Iraq as a failure while reaffirming their support for the troops. The assembly will take up the issue in an online discussion.
"It was a pretty divided house," said Rabbi Joel Meyers, the assembly’s executive vice president.
The Iraq debate extended far beyond the allotted time and precluded the assembly from taking up a resolution, raised by petition, calling on Conservative rabbinical schools to accept gay and lesbian students. In a meeting Thursday morning, the assembly’s executive committee effectively killed that resolution, saying it did not conform to the movement’s principle of pluralism.
JTA.org