Spotlight on CLAL
Welcome to Spotlight on CLAL. Here you will find stories about what is happening at CLAL and about the work that CLAL is doing across North America. Sometimes we will focus on a program, or a special event, or upon a CLAL faculty member's work and interests. Bookmark this page if you want to get to know us better.
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Same Sex Marriage: Exploring the Resources of Religious Traditions
By Judy Epstein, Director of Public Affairs
This spring, Emory University’s Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of
Religion held a three-day conference examining the contemporary changes and
challenges in marriage, sex, family, and the role of religion. Supported by
The Pew Charitable Trusts, the event brought together close to 700 scholars
and participants for a series of lectures, panel discussions, and
conversations on such topics as covenant and same sex marriage, in vitro
fertilization, contraception, adoption, abortion, rising rates of divorce,
and single unwed mothers. As part of the program, smaller working groups
convened to address specific topics. One such topic, “same-sex marriage and
the resources of religious traditions,” generated lively discussion.
Participating from CLAL was Rabbi Steve Greenberg, Senior Teaching Fellow.
Debate ensued on whether marriage itself was desirable or appropriate for
same sex couples. Participants explored what materials might be used to
generate new forms of commitment ceremonies to sanctify partnerships; how
religion can be helpful in this area; and what role religion can play when
considering marriage, sex, and family.
“As a group, what we saw was that conventional marriage tended to impose a
single form of relationship and demanded a high level of conformism,” said
Rabbi Greenberg. “All the social, economic, and legal benefits of marriage
are narrowly conferred upon a single form of human solidarity.”
He continued, “In the religious traditions however, marriage is only one
among a number of forms that significant relationships took. Daniel Boyarin,
for example, suggests that in talmudic culture, chevruta (study
partners), and the student-teacher relationships were powerful life long
relationships respected and sustained by the community. For all sorts of
covenanted ties other than marriage, we have no comparable frame today.”
The group talked about the many sorts of ways to honor, rather than confine,
a variety of relationships through the use of traditional resources. The aim
of the group was to explore ways to be creative in using religious materials
in ways to sanctify, celebrate, and acknowledge all sorts of precious human
bonds.
“Contractual unions existed in ancient times,” Rabbi Greenberg said.
“Marriage, as it is constructed in ancient times, is not egalitarian.
However, there were other sorts of formal ways for people to become mutually
obligated to each other. Perhaps we can recover the notion of economic
partnerships, described in the Talmud and used throughout the medieval
period in a more expansive way. The mutuality, central in such contracts,
could frame the loving union between two people more democratically and
broadly than conventional marriage.”
Working groups brought their findings to the larger conference for
dissemination. As a central theme, it was agreed that families must continue
to adapt, and that family as an institution must adjust to the changes of
contemporary life. Moreover, religion can be a tremendous resource in the
process, as families shift with the prevailing cultural climate.
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