THE GUARDIAN: A statement on homosexuality that has garnered more than 100 rabbinic signatures is a watershed for Orthodox Judaism
If you think the Christian world has a problem with gay people, you should try orthodox Judaism. For centuries homosexuality has been taboo; it's not what nice Jewish boys or girls do. The biblical proscription against "men lying with men as though with a woman" (Leviticus 20:13) is considered the very bedrock of Jewish morality. For traditional Judaism marriage is the highest state of social bonding – a true union of body and soul. Despite some odd exceptions in biblical and rabbinical literature, (Jeremiah is told by God to stay single, Ben Azzai, one of the greatest of the Mishnaic teachers, remains a bachelor by choice), even celibacy was frowned upon. Part of this opposition was no doubt based on a response to the cultural environment – pagan in the biblical era, Christian in the rabbinic one. But despite major shifts in sociological contexts, the ban against homosexuality was rigidly enforced throughout the centuries. Whilst in other areas the rabbis often showed great flexibility and understanding, this particular area remained off-limits.
In recent years, however, homosexuality, among even the most Orthodox sectors of Judaism, has become a growing feature of contemporary Jewish life. In both America and Israel – the world's two largest Jewish communities – it has not been uncommon for rabbis and others to "come out", often suffering the consequences that such a confession entails. Moreover, reports of homosexual relations between rabbi-teachers and their students have been a regular feature of news items in both communities. In Israel and the US these behaviours have been the subject of a number of feature and documentary films. Continue reading and comment >>> Mordechai Beck | Monday, August 09, 2010
