San Diego, CA (special) -- As Emma Lazarus, Jewish author of the inscription upon the Statue of Liberty, pledged America to welcome "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" so does Congregation Dor Hadash, San Diego County's lone Reconstructionist synagogue, put out the welcome mat to some people who may have felt unwanted elsewhere.

The congregation's credo might read: "Give us your women seeking to be leaders in the Jewish world; your gays, and lesbians; your intermarried couples, and your modern-day thinkers anxious to be Jewish but unwilling to accept all the halacha."

"We feel that all kinds of Jews have been marginalized by being the kinds of people they are or having the kinds of philosophical commitments they have, and that there is no justice in their being marginalized in the Jewish community," said Rabbi Alexis Roberts, spiritual leader of the 150-member congregation. "They are not doing us any harm; they are doing us a lot of good, and it is our loss if we don't permit their participation," she said. "The kinds of prejudices on which they were excluded are not essential to Judaism."

Sanctuary of Congregation Dor Hadash

The movement pioneered egalitarian treatment of women. Judith Kaplan Eisenstein, daughter of Reconstructionism's founder-Mordecai Kaplan-was the first young woman to celebrate a bat mitzvah. When the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College was organized in 1968, women were admitted to its first rabbinical class--although the honor of the first ordination of a woman--in 1972--belongs to the Reform movement.

Acceptance of gays and lesbians, which has troubled other movements in Judaism, "is not an issue with us. In 1992, we already came out with our commission statement which is that we accept gays and lesbians at a completely equal level for all kinds of leadership and fully as Jews," she said.

"Homosexuality is normal sexuality." Roberts declared. "Everyone wants everyone to be committed and not promiscuous and careful of each other's feelings and all those things," she added. "Our values about relationships are across the board."

Although she has not yet officiated at a commitment ceremony between gays, she will when the occasion arises. "There is one couple that since last year I have counseled and talked with, but no, my phone has not been ringing off the hook," she said. 

She said when she officiates at heterosexual weddings, she obtains permission from the couple to "include a statement to the effect that we hope one day everyone will be able to be married and have the same privilege of marriage that you two are having."

Congregation Dor Hadash, founded in 1984, also makes "a real commitment to being welcoming to intermarried families," the rabbi told HERITAGE. "I think 40 percent of our members under 40 are intermarried families. Not all of them are couples. I can think of one woman who is a widow, whose husband was Jewish, who is raising the children as Jews and they are members. "What is unusual is that every single one of our families is raising their children as Jews," she said. "We are specifically serving intermarried couples who have made a commitment to Jewish life, or who wish our help as a resource in building a Jewish life for their family."

Rabbi Alexis Roberts

The Gentile members of most intermarried couples who join Dor Hadash typically feel that "religion is less important to them than it is to their Jewish spouse and that is why they agreed to help raise their kids as Jews," Roberts said.

"I can think of lots of them who were sort of raised non-denominationally Gentile and their whole spiritual life is being involved in this congregation, but for different kind of personal reasons don't want to formally convert. They have their family's feelings to think of, or they like being here but they are not ready to throw themselves in." 

The rabbi said "we make it very clear to parents that if their kids are getting two different religious messages, we are not the synagogue to serve them. They have to be at least nominally supportive of having a Jewish home for their kids."

Non-Jewish members of the family may lead English readings during the service, may serve on various congregational committees and may head friendship groups known as chavurot, the rabbi noted.

But there are some restrictions on non-Jews. For example, they may not have an aliyah to the Torah. "They don't do Torah blessings because we understand that to be specifically making a statement that as a Jew you have taken upon yourself the commandments," Roberts said.

Nor may non-Jews serve on the executive committee, as that is reserved, according to the rabbi, for "people who are in a position to be a spokesperson for what the congregation stands for towards the community."

Reconstructionism prides itself as a movement which accords to the past "a vote but not a veto," meaning that it always consults Jewish tradition but does not feel itself necessarily bound to it. Modern times in Reconstructionist view require modern adaptations. 

The growth of the congregation, Roberts said, is "tied to the Reconstructionist philosophy, which puts community first, which says first you have to rebuild an authentic feeling about knowing and caring about the people you are praying with, and then what you are praying makes some difference.

 "It is not just getting together to recite some things that have no resonance, no power to move children to carry on."

She said members of the Reconstructionist congregation are involved in the life of the congregation. "The more they study, the more committees they want to serve on, and the more they want to study," she said. "There is a terrific feeling of family and community. People come in and they feel it and they feel it is different from other places."

On the verge of taking maternity leave to deliver her third child, Roberts said her congregation is such that no rabbi needs to be hired to temporarily fill her spot. Cantorial soloist Leon Natker will be able to officiate at any life cycle emergency, she said, while many lay members of the congregation can lead the regular services. 

In that way, she said, "we are perhaps similar to the Orthodox where you have a really high number of people who really know what they are doing and who can take control and lead a service and teach and are willing to step in and do their part."

The congregation was founded by Rabbi Ronie Herstik, who began life as a Reform rabbi and later served in a Conservative pulpit before starting Dor Hadash. He subsequently returned to his original movement. 

Roberts was ordained in 1993 and worked as the Southwest regional director of the Reconstructionist movement until being asked to succeed Herstik, who resigned to take a post at a larger congregation in Los Angeles. 

Currently, Roberts serves as secretary of the San Diego Rabbinical Association and, in time, can expect to become the organization's president. Barbara Carr, principal of Dor Hadash's Hebrew school, serves as president of the local principals' council. Natker, the cantorial soloist, serves as executive director of the San Diego Comic Opera. Linda Smith, the administrator, rounds out the professional team. Bob Siegel is the president of the congregation.