Here’s another ethical issue and Jewish source response:

Case

It was a very tricky question.  In honor of Deborah’s bat mitzvah, her grandmother Ruth wanted to donate a new Torah cover she had sewn to the congregation.  It was really beautiful. The problem was that Grandmother Ruth, who was born a Jew, converted to Chriatianity to marry her second husband Frank, long after Deborah’s mother Pam was already an adult.  The congregation had to decide two things: (1) Is it okay to dress the Torah in a gift given by a non-Jew? (2) Is there a difference between a gift given by a non-Jew and a gift given by a Jew who is now actively practicing another religion?

Answer

Sometime around 1460 Rabbi Yisrael Brunna solved a similar case in Prague.  He teaches two lessons:

[a] The Talmud says that the Temple in Jerusalem (Nazir 62a) accepted pledges and free-will offerings from non-Jews.  Our synagogues should do the same.

[b] The Talmud states that we do not accept gifts to the Temple from Jews who have converted to another religion. (Eruvin 69b).

[c] While Rabbi Brunna uses this passage to reject the gift from the Christian grandmother, that  may not be there only reading.

In a similar Reform responsa Walter Jacobs points out that the gifts from the Temple mentioned in Eruvin were connected to idolatry. Here we may see Christians not as pagans, but as ethical monotheists.  He writes: “Such gifts are acceptable as long as they are used in accordance with the desires of the congregation.”

Joel Grishaver, “You Be the Judge”, pgs. 39-40

Used with permission from Joel Grishaver