We know that traditionally, ,and even among Australian Progressive Jews, non-Jews weren't called up to the Torah, but I believe there may have been some rethinking happening on this score. We'd be very grateful if you could advise on current policy. It seems strange to us to be calling up someone who isn't Jewish, but on the other hand we can appreciate it's uncomfortable for the family when people (such as a parent) are left out.
Rabbi Jonathan answers
You are right that we don't do 'call-ups' for non-Jews. It doesn't make 'Jewish sense' (we invite anyone male to cover their heads out of respect the tradition of the synagogue, but we don't invite them to wear a tallit, representing the commandments, or open the ark, or take out or carry or elevate the Torah, since Torah represents the Jewish framework of life). However, we also don't ignore the non-Jewish parts of the family.
The way we deal with this situation in communities I have worked in is to call up the Jewish partner by their Jewish name, and the non-Jewish 'in English' - eg: 'and with her we ask Andrew to join us' - i.e. the non-Jew is an 'adjunct' to a traditional call-up. At the Leo Baeck Centre the Jewish person comes to the right of the bimah, from where the blessings are always read. The non-Jew goes to the left of the bimah. After the call-up, the Jewish person goes to the other side (left) for Mi Shebeirach (the next call up, if there is one, comes to the right side). This means that, after the blessings, the Jewish person has gone to the left side of the bimah and met up with the non-Jewish one, at which point they can be given an appropriate blessing/words together. Note that there is a prayer about Torah for non-Jews (if they have some spiritual belief as it is addressed to 'Holy one of Blessing') in our prayer book - middle of page 369 of Mishkan T'filah World Union Edition. This is more or less a composite of the blessings before and after the Torah reading, but is about 'the Jewish people', not 'us'. If this is to be used, it would be read by the non-Jewish person once joined by the Jewish one and before their Mi Shebeirach.
Of course if the non-Jew is estranged from the partner, or has no direct connections (eg is a friend), they will need to come up with someone else Jewish who is called up in the usual sense. But unless there is good reason to have the non-Jew involved with the Torah service (ie they are a parent of a BM or parent or close sibling of a person about to be married), I would advise not to do it. Give them something else to do - eg read one of the prayers 'For our Country' on page 376 of Mishkan T'filah World Union Edition.
Rabbi Jonathan
