Conservative Judaism may be about to reopen discussion of the denomination's ban on same-sex unions and ordaining homosexuals -- a move critics say could fracture the centrist branch of U.S. Jewry.
Judy Yudof, lay president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, wants the movement's lawmaking body to decide if its condemnation of gay sex still holds under current interpretations of religious law. The Torah's prohibition against homosexual behavior is the reason Conservative Judaism bars gays from serving as rabbis and cantors.
Yudof plans to submit the question to the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards -- a panel of 25 rabbis -- within a month.
Yudof said she is not advocating a particular outcome and she refused to discuss her views on the issue. She said she is simply seeking answers for Conservative Jews, who make up the second-largest branch of American Judaism, with just...