Ordination Regardless of Orientation.

As you all know (because we discussed this issue on Monday), the Jewish Theological Seminary of America is hosting the Law Committee this week as they deliberate on the ordination of LGBT Jews. You also know that I support the ordination of LGBT Jews because I told you I wore the “Ordination Regardless of Oriention” pin and we all know that if you wear a pin, it indicates your statefast, albeit lazy support of a cause (unless you’re wearing a pin at a rally, which indicates that you were willing to get out of bed and stand on your feet for a couple hours). A brief review of what’s going on can be found at the Religion Press Release Services blog, where they helpfully outline the event and list all those involved with the Committee.

On the Jewish front, in addition to the articles in the Forward, the Jewish Week, JTA, and Fox News (kidding! Just wanted to see if you were paying attention), the Jewish blogosphere is abuzz over the possible ordination of LGBT rabbis. Well, maybe not abuzz. But definitely atwitter. Marisa, at Jvoices, wrote a touching essay about returning to the shul in which she grew up and her decision to go to HUC instead of JTS. Rabbi Daniel Brenner, a Reconstructionist rabbi, posted a children’s story that he penned to explain homosexuality to his younger congregants (it’s a little schmaltzy, but hey, he made the effort). Dayna at Jewschool posted a letter that students at the University of Judaism wrote to members of the Committee on Jewish Laws and Standards, urging them to find a halakhically acceptable way to ordain LGBT Jews. Meanwhile, the bloggers at the Jewish Nation reflect on the implications a possible shift in position will have on the Masorti Movement in Great Britain.