Some of them were ordained at Yeshiva University, the Modern Orthodox rabbinical school that recently rejected the formation of an LGBTQ student group. In addition to Mlotek and Lopatin, the other rabbis are Daniel Atwood, Elie Friedman, Gabe Greenberg, Steven Greenberg, Daniel Landes, Sarah Mulhern, Aaron Potek and Shmuly Yanklowitz. “The Judaism that I believe in, that I think God gave us, is one that cares for people and addresses their needs and is meaningful for them, so Jewish law and Jewish tradition needs to address this,” said Lopatin, who leads a Modern Orthodox synagogue outside Detroit as well as the Jewish Community Relations Council in Detroit. The rabbis identified by JTA include prominent figures like Rabbi Asher Lopatin, the former head of the liberal Orthodox rabbinical school Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, who said he would “seriously favorably consider it” if asked to perform a same-sex wedding. “But what we do see, which I think is very important, is a change of attitude.” “I think for most Orthodox rabbis, the prohibition in the Bible and in subsequent halachic works was somewhat intractable,” said Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, referring to the biblical prohibition on sex between men. Though small, that number represents a remarkable change in the Orthodox community, which is defined by its strict adherence to religious law and in which a decade ago it was impossible to find a single rabbi willing to do so. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency was able to identify 10 Orthodox-ordained rabbis who have performed or said they were open to officiating religious wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples. Mlotek is part of a growing cadre of Orthodox rabbis who are breaking ranks by performing wedding ceremonies that until recently had been unthinkable in the Orthodox Jewish world. “If we don’t, we risk further alienation and falling into an abyss of religious irrelevance by denying these couples their rightful place of belonging.” “If the couple is choosing to live Jewish lives, build a Jewish home and raise Jewish children, our traditional rabbinate must seize the opportunity to welcome and work with these families at their most precious life-cycle moments,” Mlotek wrote last year in announcing his decision to perform same-sex weddings. It was Mlotek’s first time performing a same-sex wedding.
Officiating at the ceremony was Rabbi Avram Mlotek, an Orthodox rabbi who leads an outreach organization for young Jewish professionals in New York. Yet earlier this year, Schorer stood with his now-husband, Ariel Meiri, under the chuppah in a ceremony that didn’t look too different from the ones his brothers and sisters had. “I remember realizing I’m never going to have this,” he recalled.
After he realized he was attracted to men, he thought there was no way for him to build a life in the Modern Orthodox community, where he had been repeatedly told there was no space for gay people. ( JTA) - As a teen, Nadiv Schorer felt a deep sense of grief when attending his older siblings’ weddings.