NEW YORK, NY December 07, 2006 —The Conservative Jewish movement, which represents about a third of affiliated American Jews, will now allow gays to become rabbis and have union ceremonies. The decision is non-binding and some traditional prohibitions were upheld. WNYC’s Fred Mogul reports.

REPORTER: When it comes to gay unions, the ruling body says they won’t have the same legal status as marriage, and congregations can choose whether to permit them or not. It will also be up to the country’s two main seminaries to decide whether to ordain gay Jews. One in Los Angeles has indicated it will, but its counterpart in New York, the Jewish Theological Seminary, has given mixed signals. Prospective rabbi Aaron Weininger now plans to apply to both.

WEININGER: I am working on my application right now, but I was not prepared before today to submit an application before the policy of the movement changed.

REPORTER: Weininger says the victory is only partial: the liberal decision expands the roles gays can play in communal life but still interprets literally the Biblical prohibition against male same-sex intercourse. For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul.