Gay Marriage Stirs Rebellion at Synagogue

LOS ANGELES — Sinai Temple is a Conservative Jewish congregation perched on a hill in Westwood, famous for its wealth, its sizable population of Persians, many of whom fled Iran after the fall of the shah, and a well-known and outspoken rabbi who has at times pushed his congregation on ideologically adventurous paths.

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So it was that three weeks before the Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California, the rabbi, David Wolpe, announced in a letter to the synagogue that gay marriages would be performed in this 107-year-old congregation, as soon as the court ruling he anticipated was handed down.

Celebrating same-sex marriages is hardly a new stand for Conservative Jewish congregations. But the decision in this distinctive synagogue has set off a storm of protests in recent days, particularly from Persian Jews, reflecting not only the unusual makeup of the congregation but also the generational and cultural divisions among some Jews over how to respond to changing civil views of homosexuality.

“To officiate a union that is expressly not for the same godly purpose of procreation and to call such a relationship ‘sanctified’ is unacceptable to a sound mind,” M. Michael Naim, an architect, said in an open letter to other Iranian members of the congregation. “Homosexuality is explicitly condemned in Scripture and has been categorically and passionately rejected by all classical Jewish legal and ethical thinkers as a cardinal vice in the same category as incest, murder and idolatry.”

This is not the first time that Rabbi Wolpe, 54, has attracted national attention for the views he has pressed on his congregation. In one noted sermon, he expressed doubt about one of the great stories of Jewish life, the exodus of Jews from Egypt into the wilderness.

The synagogue is an anchor of the Los Angeles Jewish community, and Rabbi Wolpe himself is such an entrenched figure there that there seems little chance that its existence, or his tenure, is endangered. Still, the argument within the congregation offered a striking contrast to the images of gay couples across this state rushing to be married, reflected in smiling faces in newspapers and on evening television.

Mr. Naim said he was leaving the congregation. Rabbi Wolpe said that 10 families had told him so far that they intended to either leave the synagogue or withdraw their children from its school, to protest a policy they denounced as a violation of Jewish teachings and the traditions they had brought here when they fled the Iranian revolution of 1979.

Rabbi Wolpe said that based on letters he had received, and comments voiced to him as he walked the aisles of the sprawling, sunny sanctuary on Wilshire Boulevard during Saturday morning service, close to half of the congregation of 2,000 families, which is about half Persian, was unhappy with the new policy.

“The Persian community is pretty heavily weighted against the idea of same-sex marriage,” Rabbi Wolpe said. “And there are some non-Persians who also oppose it, and have made their convictions clear to me.”

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” Rabbi Wolpe said. “I was doing it on my internal timetable in the synagogue, which was to try to bring people along slowly because I knew this would be very difficult for many people. I think it’s the most controversial thing I’ve ever done or will do.”

The decision by Rabbi Wolpe, who has been at this synagogue for 15 years and is one of the country’s best known rabbis, was very much in accordance with other Conservative congregations. Conservative Judaism is perched between the more liberal Reform and Reconstructionist movements, which have long accepted gay clergy members, and the Orthodox, which rejects it.

Some Conservative congregations have gay rabbis and cantors. But the announcement and its aftermath served as a reminder of one of the things that distinguish Sinai Temple and nearby Beverly Hills: a heavy and at times insular presence of Persians, as many call themselves, and many of them are fiercely protective of their past and religious beliefs.

At Saturday services last week, the roll call of deceased members read off during the memorial conclusion of the service, in preparation for the chanting of the mourners’ Kaddish, was rich with Persian names, a notable addition to the usual roster of names like Abramowitz and Schwartz. And the girl who read from the Torah to observe her bat mitzvah was the daughter of Persian immigrants.

The resistance Rabbi Wolpe is finding among Persian Jews is, like much of the country, generational. Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, which also has a significant Persian population, said that he has long performed same-sex ceremonies, without any pushback.


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Și decizia de a suport în rândul unor membri persane din Sinai. "Există unele persoane care nu sunt încă pregătite să accepte opinii netradiționale", a spus Dora Kadisha, un membru al congregației. "Dar nu putem privi în altă parte știind că în comunitatea noastră avem homosexuali și lesbiene. Trebuie să-i îmbrățișeze nu numai în familii, dar în bisericile noastre. "

Tatăl ei, Parviz Nazarian, una dintre cele mai cunoscute membrilor comunității persan din Los Angeles, de asemenea, a declarat că a sprijinit noua politică. "Mulți oameni sunt după Rabbi Wolpe,", a spus el. "Sunt cu el."

Rabinul Wolpe a spus că în timp ce el aștepta cu nerăbdare pentru efectuarea căsătoriile de același sex, el va continua să refuze efectuarea nunti interconfesionale, reflectând din nou politica a miscarii conservatoare.

În bazele pentru noua politică în ultimele luni, rabinul Wolpe a condus o serie de cursuri și ateliere de lucru. "Acesta este un subiect important și plină - oamenii au sentimente foarte pasionat de ea", a spus el, deschizând cel final al întâlnirilor. Momente mai târziu, rabinul a fost contestată de către un tânăr persan întreabă de ce sinagoga nu ar trebui să se refere doar la căsătorie gay ca "un contract de sodomie."

Scrisoarea rabinului la adunarea susținut că legea evreiască permis nu numai astfel de uniuni, dar, de asemenea, ar trebui să le îmbrățișeze.

"Clerul noastre cred că această decizie este în cea mai bună tradiție a mișcării conservatoare care vede Tora ca un document viu care permite cameră pentru noi înțelegeri și abordări", a spus el. "Așa cum ne-am modernizat rolul femeilor și multe alte practici, cererea din partea fraților și surorilor care sunt gay pentru a putea să trăiască într-o relație sfântă noastre este un apel la conștiința și responsabilitatea noastră ca evrei."

Laurie L. Levenson, profesor de drept și un membru al congregației, a spus că ea a crezut cea mai mare adunare sprijinit Rabbi Wolpe.

"Este o adunare mare, cu oameni din multe medii", a spus ea. Egalitatea Căsătoria "este un concept nou pentru unele dintre familiile persane. Nu este un proces educațional care trebuie să aibă loc. Din fericire, rabinul Wolpe are atât de mult credibilitate ca el poate trage acest off. "
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