In today’s Jerusalem Post is a powerfully, moving article on how Jewish religious views on homosexuality are changing. The article opens with a quote: “You have to just love and help. In the final analysis, that’s what Judaism is all about.” The article explains that:
Members of the ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox communities frequently express their objections by pointing out that it’s right there in the Torah, in Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is an abomination.”
Literalists who go just a couple of chapters on could have a field day, for as it is said (Leviticus 20:13): “And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
Strong stuff. Except that scholars say there’s no record of anyone having been executed for such an infraction when death was still part of the Jewish legal landscape. More realistically – at least as evidenced in fundamentalist circles today – the punishment, while not deadly, was certainly not benign (Leviticus 18:29): “For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them, shall be cut off from among their people.”
Yet, the article continues and presents are far more optimistic story of a young man who came out to his traditional Jewish family. The article explains:
His family was supportive when he disclosed that he was gay. “There was never a negative reaction from anyone in my family. Apparently, my mother knew all along. My father is a highly respected man in the community and at synagogue.
I feared that coming out would mean I could no longer go there with him. Then he said, ‘I thought about this, but I really don’t care.’” While once he felt he could turn only to God, and later only to a few close hesder friends, Jonas says that today, “there are more and more people I can speak with in the religious community. I won’t say they’re all accepting of me, but there’s no doubt that I’ve been blessed with a family and community that’s understanding and supportive – more so even than many people in the secular world.”
Jonas thinks that several issues have helped change attitudes toward homosexuals in the national religious sector. One is the way Israel’s general gay community has raised its profile through active advocacy and interest groups, clubs and special publications, and annual gay pride parades. Another is the way its rights have gained traction through the country’s relatively liberal human-rights laws, and through the army’s laissez-faire attitude toward homosexuals.
In particular, the ongoing saga of Rabbi Moti Elon has drawn attention to homosexuality in the religious community. One of the country’s most iconic national religious educators, several years ago Elon suddenly left a successful career as head of one of Jerusalem’s most prestigious religious academies to be the rabbi of a sleepy northern town. Several months ago, it finally emerged that Elon’s “exile” had been in response to complaints against him by male students of “inappropriate behavior.” The alleged transgressions are generally understood to have been of a sexual nature, and more recently led police to recommend that Elon be indicted.
“I have no doubt the Elon affair has had an effect on attitudes toward gays among the national religious community,” Jonas says.
“It has showed that even rabbis can be like this. It really brought the issue out of the closet.”
Read the entire article on the Jerusalem Post’s website.
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