Picking and choosing?

The next time someone frumer-than-thou gets in your face about driving to shul or the (non) validity of non-Orthodox rabbis, ask them if they observe mitzva number 74.

The Complete List

(Scroll down)

Found it? Good. Here's the relevant passage.

Adultery? That ain't good.

Double-points if, after they concede that they do not observe mitza 74 because it is illegal under most countries' legal system (well, not Saudi), you ask them- "If it wasn't illegal, would you observe it?"

Wow, selectivism isn't just a Reform practice. Who knew?

Edit: This article from Tikkun describes the various legal and interpretive blocks the rabbis put up to ensure it would be almost impossible for a Jewish court to carry out an execution. What say you, Right-wingers? Is this not a case of both religious and judicial activism? Is the Sanhedrin not legislating from the bench? It isn't their job to interpret the law, just enforce it, right?

Right?

Even the rabbis of the Sanhedrin and Talmud had their lines. They saw things in the Torah that went against their own values, and they used every means at their disposal to shift the interpretation of the law towards something more compatible with God's and Israel's will as they understood it.

Take note, Conservative movement. It's your Torah. YOU decide what you want Leviticus 18 and 20 to mean and how they should be interpreted. That's part of your JOB as leaders, and trying to shy away from that is downright shameful. Ordain gays, or don't. I've got news for you, though, some sort of split is going to happen either way, and this ridiculous farce of fighting over procedure rules isn't helping.

Make a decision. You owe it to yourselves and to your members. The greatest shame going on here is not the refusal to grant gays acknowledgment, but the timidity, inertia, and cowardice that is gripping your leadership. You have the right to decide this issue, you are indeed worthy. So DO IT!

The Talmud's Judaism isn't set in stone; why should yours be?