Evanstonjew posted a link this morning which made me angry, sick, disgusted and frankly I am not sure how to sort it out in my head. It is certainly not a new issue.

A boy died of a brain tumor. The Sephardi Chief Rabbi ruled that because his mother underwent a Masorti conversion, he could not be buried in the Jewish cemetery in Madrid and instead had to be buried outside of the Orthodox section...

I just don't know what to say about this any more - God forbid any of us know that kind of pain - but have this kind of craziness happen as you're burying your son - it is inhuman.

I looked into the source of this Halacha. The Talmud says we cannot bury the righteous with the wicked. Rashi and the other rishonim interpret this to mean that Gentiles are wicked and cannot be buried with Jews who are assumed to be righteous. A lot more can be said by me on this topic, but not now...

I am not advocating abandoning Halacha, but you'd think there would be a way to bend it. I know why the Orthodox refuse - they are concerned that allowing it would implictly condone non-Orthodox conversions. But I guess it just breaks my heart.