Conservative rabbi: I'm being punished for gay marriages
By MATTHEW WAGNER
Mar. 24, 2006 7:14

As the theological debate within Conservative Judaism over the status of homosexuals heats up, a Conservative Israeli rabbi has accused his movement of discrimination.

Rabbi David Lazar, of congregation Tiferet Shalom in Ramat Aviv, said Wednesday that he feels his pro-gay stand has disqualified him from running for official positions in the Masorti (Conservative) Movement's institutions in Israel.

"I feel I have been singled out as a persona non gratis by the Schechter Institute [of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem]," said Lazar, who has conducted 10 same-sex weddings in Israel since 2001, in violation of Conservative directives.

"I do not know for sure," said Lazar, "but it is strange that I have not been invited to speak to rabbinical students at Schechter since I began doing same-gender weddings."

Lazar said he felt the Schechter Institute's administration wants to prevent him from influencing rabbinical students with his opinions on homosexuality. the rest