The Conservative Jewish movement, the faith's middle ground between reform liberalism and orthodoxy, is nearing a leadership decision that seems likely to permit openly gay rabbis and same-sex unions.

The 25-member Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, which last tackled the issue in 1992, meets in New York next week.

"The way it looks, it will be decided on a more liberal understanding of the law," Rabbi Irwin Kula, president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership., said. "It would be a very big, big surprise if that's not the case."

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