Gay With Perfect Faith

Though Jewish law prohibits sexual relations between men as fundamentally wrong, dozens of prominent rabbis have now decided that the halachic prohibition does not involve negative treatment towards gay members of the religious community.

Gay with perfect faith
Dozens of Religious Zionist rabbis seek to change approach to religious homosexuals. In past, automatic response was to condemn phenomenon or sweep it under carpet. Now, dozens of prominent rabbis decide to extend hand to religious gays
Nissan Strauchler • Ynet

Though Jewish law prohibits sexual relations between men as fundamentally wrong, dozens of prominent rabbis have now decided that the halachic prohibition does not involve negative treatment towards gay members of the religious community, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.

Twenty important rabbis in the Religious Zionist camp signed a document of principles calling for a change in the approach to the community's gay members. Another 80 rabbis adopted the document.

The turnaround that has occurred in recent years in the religious public's view of homosexuality within the religious community is due largely to two Orthodox organizations for religious gays: Hod and Havruta.

For more than a year, Hod worked on drafting a binding document of principles regarding the social-halachic approach to the religious-haredi homosexual population with the hope of creating a broad consensus within the rabbinical world on the tenets put forward in the document. Many rabbis helped in writing the piece, including Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, head of Har Bracha Yeshiva.

In the past, every time the explosive subject was brought up in rabbinical circles, it immediately drew harsh condemnation, if not complete propaganda against the phenomenon. This time around, the document, worded with great thought, evoked respectable agreement when it was sent to hundreds of rabbis.

No fewer than 20 rabbis openly agreed to adopt its principles. Some 80 more rabbis also agreed to do so, but, according to Hod, preferred not to do so publicly until the document is approved by Tzohar or Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, one of the senior-most figures in Religious Zionism.

'Clear that lying with another man is forbidden'
"This is the first time that a large group of rabbis are recognizing or accepting homosexuals," said Rabbi Ron Yosef, founder and director of Hod. "I presume they don't like the phenomenon, but are trying despite this to deal practically with the difficult questions of homosexuals in the face of halacha."

Rabbi Ron Yosef, 35, from Netanya, came out of the closet about a year ago. He was ordained as a rabbi about six years ago and today serves as a pulpit rabbi in Netanya.

For Rabbi Yosef, agreement on the document of principles is very encouraging and indicates that change is under way: "No doubt there has been huge progress in the past two years. In the past, there wasn't a fruitful dialogue, but rather the issue would be swept under the carpet. Now there is a discussion. Now there more empathy and they attack us less than in the past."

"The document, which was agreed upon by a broad range of rabbis, addresses the halachic aspect while educating towards acceptance of the other and stopping hatred and homophobia," Rabbi Yosef explained.

"People used to try to change sexual tendencies; now they are trying to accept us and the process of dealing with it," Yosef added. "It is clear to me that lying with another man is forbidden, and our starting point is commitment to halacha and Torah. The goal is not to seek permission. But you need to give us a shoulder and support."

Yosef elucidated the issue further: "As opposed to a heterosexual who knows what is allowed and what is forbidden, for a homosexual religious person there is an unclear halachic situation. Unprejudiced, homophobia-free rabbinical intervention without fear is needed in order to grapple with and clarify the deep halachic issues on the matter."

Comments

[Chaim]

The Chareidim are right. Now we see the true colors of the settler religious zionist community. Now we understand why the chareidim did not fight for Gush katif. They are not really observant Jews. They are brainwashed by secular zionists and are now supporting homosexual behavior. Only Chareidi Jidaism is authentic. I will never shed a tear when the settlers are pushed out of their homes because they are LAND WORSHIPPERS NOT G-D WORSHIPPERS

[The Rabbi]

Chaim- you are a sad little man.

[Esther]

Now when are the 20 rabbis going to sign a proclamation against the other major biblically cited abomination to G-d: the financial sodomy that is bursting the seams of the religious Jewish world's moral fabric?!

[Bilaams Ass]

Chaim take your medication.

[Bilaams Ass]

oh yeah, and go diddle with kolko, mondrowitz and your haredi haverim liitle boys in ger

[Jakes]

Chaim if you must rail against gays, you might get your facts straight. Charedim is hardly authentic Judaism. In many ways, it's quite similar to Reform...

[Dr Harold Goldmeier]

There is a story that a Jewish Chgo elected official representing a very large Orthodox community had to vote on a bill that would outlaw discrimination by preference discrimination in housing, education, health care, employment, etc. He approached a distinguished and by now elder member of the Orth. rabbinate for guidance on how he should vote. After hearing the official's concerns including his fear of losing a future election and reading the bill before the City council, the rav told the official he had to vote FOR the anti-discrimination bill's passage. We abhor the act of homosexuality and the violation of the Torah, but we don't tell someone they cannot hold a job, be treated by a physician, that they must live in the streets for being denied housing, etc. The official voted for the bill and has been in office for nearly 3 decades!

[Jakes]

I've asked this before and have yet to receive a satisfactory answer...
the penalty for violating Shabbat is death. Why is homosexuality treated so differently?
Especially that only anal sex is forbidden and lesbian sex not specifically prohibited.

[WoolSilkCotton]

Hot lesbian sex is even less prohibited!

[Chaim]

To Jakes
Male homosexuality is forbidden and punishable by stoning,the harshest of the 4 dead penalties.What makes homosexuality so severe of a crime is that this law applys to non jews as well. It is one of the 7 noachide laws. Lesbianism for Jewish women is forbbiden rabbinicly but actually non jewish women its not forbbiden. Lesbianism is not considered an actual sexual act unlike male homosexuality is.

[Jakes]

But a death sentence is a death sentence?!

[Jakes]

I mean, regardless of it being stoning versus the lethal injection, you're still being put to death!

[DT]

Jakes,
Because you would have to have two witnesses to the actual sexual act in order to be qualify for the death penalty. And that doesn't happen too often.

[Jakes]

Am I missing something? You could never prove it unless a kosher witness was spying on you??

Is that supposed to make it more of a severe transgression? To me it seems less serious since it is unlikely one will ever be caught....

[WoolSilkCotton]

I volunteer to be a witness to a lesbian act.

[steve]

Male homosexuality is also under the category of forbidden relationships that one must give up his life rather than transgress. There are three such "cardinal" sins: murder, idolatry and immorality. Desecrating the Sabbath publicly and brazenly, although a severe sin which is punishable by death, is not one of these "cardinal" sins.

[Jakes]

Idolatry? What about people who go completely OTD, perhaps convert to another religion and worship idols, and then are welcomed back to Judaism with open arms.

Murder? Why were all these frum Jews saying tehillim for a murdered in Florida when he committed a cardinal sin?

[Audrey the Liberal]

Shorter steve :"Homosexuals should just kill themselves."

[Dave Marshall]

Chaim, Steve,
I am not even Orthodox, but I agree with you 100%.

[Pessie Gelb]

If 2 kosher witnesses walk into a mikve room and see a man molesting a boy we stone to death the man who the 2 kosher witnesses saw molesting the boy and we make sure that the boy recieves counciling to make sure that the boy does not become another Motti Borger.

[Shmarya]

Not "molesting," only anally penetrating – and even then the death penalty is not as simple as you claim.