I have posted a number of times already, I, II, III, IV, V VI concerning the fact that most Jews - especially in Jerusalem - are strongly offended by the gay parade which is scheduled this week. Jerusalem is the center of holiness, the heart of the Jewish nation. Because of this holiness, the gay parade was deliberately scheduled in Jerusalem.
They claim that they are enlightened harbinger's of openness and acceptance. That they are offended by what the Torah says about them. They want to correct the hatred and divisiveness that they feel has resulted from the traditional Jewish views - views which have spread to Christianity and Islam. They want to uproot what they claim is the false belief of the Jews and other religions that G-d does not approve of their behavior and in fact views it as an abomination. They have portrayed it as a simple campaign against primitive beliefs which must give way to the superior ideas of the secular Western world. They sincerely want to educate religious Jews in what they view as advanced morality and ethics. They want to show us that peace will result from discarding outdated religious ideas and that if we accept their views -- peace is just around the corner. They sincerely believe that if Jews were just more tolerate and could accept that the Bible mistakenly proscribed their behaviors as deviate - then there would be genuine peace - not only in Israel but in the whole world. They think it is that simple.
Thus the confrontation revolves around a single question. which side is right and which is wrong. There is nothing in the middle. Either the Torah was given by G-d and we must keep it because G-d demands it of us - under threat of severe punishment - or it is an ancient superstition which is an impediment to the happiness of Mankind. Either the Torah is G-d given or it is an outdated superstition. Which is it?
It is important to understand that this is not a simple debate of philosophy, an argument between intellectuals in some ivory tower. We are located in the center of the Middle East. A powder keg that can explode at any second. Beside the traditional Arab enemies with the huge armies - we also face the nuclear threat of Iran. Iran has threatened to annihilate us if we try to defend ourselves. Even without the Bomb - we face daily bombardments from Hamas as well as threats from the Hezbollah and Syria. Please read this assessment in the New York Times. Israel in the Season of Dread. There is no need to be melodramatic and exaggerate. Reality is frightening as it is.
The Torah is very clear that if we don't live lives of purity and holiness - we will be punished and expelled from Israel. As Rav Moshe Sternbuch, shlita mentiioned to me last Shabbos - Israel has a paradoxical nature - it either encourages the ultimate holiness or the greatest perversion.. The organizers of the offensive parade - think that the idea of G-d telling us what is holy is a joke. Make love not war. Engage in every type of perversion and encourage others - not only to tolerate it - but also to join them.
We are literally clinging by our fingernails to the edge of a cliff. We are this moment literally in a life and death situation. The Torah is called the Tree of Life to those who cling to it. To those who are too weak to hold it tightly - they fall to their deaths. The gemora in Shabbos (55a) relates how the great saints of the Jewish people were condemned to death - not because they sinned. But because they didn't protest the sins of the people. Even though if they had protested it would not have helped. The Torah requires us to protest against every affront to G-d and the holy Torah - or suffer the consequences.
This Thursday there will be a choice for all of us - either to pretend that nothing is happening when the parade marchers openly challenge G-d and His Torah - or to protest in a dignified manner against this spiriutal poison. It is an opportunity for sanctification of holiness in sincere yet urgent protest - or the opposite. The consequences are literally those of life and death.
They claim that they are enlightened harbinger's of openness and acceptance. That they are offended by what the Torah says about them. They want to correct the hatred and divisiveness that they feel has resulted from the traditional Jewish views - views which have spread to Christianity and Islam. They want to uproot what they claim is the false belief of the Jews and other religions that G-d does not approve of their behavior and in fact views it as an abomination. They have portrayed it as a simple campaign against primitive beliefs which must give way to the superior ideas of the secular Western world. They sincerely want to educate religious Jews in what they view as advanced morality and ethics. They want to show us that peace will result from discarding outdated religious ideas and that if we accept their views -- peace is just around the corner. They sincerely believe that if Jews were just more tolerate and could accept that the Bible mistakenly proscribed their behaviors as deviate - then there would be genuine peace - not only in Israel but in the whole world. They think it is that simple.
Thus the confrontation revolves around a single question. which side is right and which is wrong. There is nothing in the middle. Either the Torah was given by G-d and we must keep it because G-d demands it of us - under threat of severe punishment - or it is an ancient superstition which is an impediment to the happiness of Mankind. Either the Torah is G-d given or it is an outdated superstition. Which is it?
It is important to understand that this is not a simple debate of philosophy, an argument between intellectuals in some ivory tower. We are located in the center of the Middle East. A powder keg that can explode at any second. Beside the traditional Arab enemies with the huge armies - we also face the nuclear threat of Iran. Iran has threatened to annihilate us if we try to defend ourselves. Even without the Bomb - we face daily bombardments from Hamas as well as threats from the Hezbollah and Syria. Please read this assessment in the New York Times. Israel in the Season of Dread. There is no need to be melodramatic and exaggerate. Reality is frightening as it is.
The Torah is very clear that if we don't live lives of purity and holiness - we will be punished and expelled from Israel. As Rav Moshe Sternbuch, shlita mentiioned to me last Shabbos - Israel has a paradoxical nature - it either encourages the ultimate holiness or the greatest perversion.. The organizers of the offensive parade - think that the idea of G-d telling us what is holy is a joke. Make love not war. Engage in every type of perversion and encourage others - not only to tolerate it - but also to join them.
We are literally clinging by our fingernails to the edge of a cliff. We are this moment literally in a life and death situation. The Torah is called the Tree of Life to those who cling to it. To those who are too weak to hold it tightly - they fall to their deaths. The gemora in Shabbos (55a) relates how the great saints of the Jewish people were condemned to death - not because they sinned. But because they didn't protest the sins of the people. Even though if they had protested it would not have helped. The Torah requires us to protest against every affront to G-d and the holy Torah - or suffer the consequences.
This Thursday there will be a choice for all of us - either to pretend that nothing is happening when the parade marchers openly challenge G-d and His Torah - or to protest in a dignified manner against this spiriutal poison. It is an opportunity for sanctification of holiness in sincere yet urgent protest - or the opposite. The consequences are literally those of life and death.
The ancient Greeks are widely known for their homosexual exploits. Many ordinary people are aware of Greek homosexual love poetry, the same-sex relations of Greek gods and heroes, and the homosexual relationship between Alexander the Great and Hephaestion.
ReplyDeleteGreek poets wrote of same-sex love and notable philosophers and writers such as Plato, Xenophon, Plutarch, and pseudo-Lucian discussed the topic.
The form of homosexuality that was most common in ancient Greece was pederasty, meaning a relationship between an adult man and a male youth. For the Greeks, pederasty was more than a sexual pastime or preference - it was nearly a social institution. A same-sex relationship between an older man, probably in his 20s or 30s, known as the erastes, and a beardless boy, the eromenos or paidika, became a cultural ideal. The relationship was regarded as mutually beneficial, as the older man would educate, protect, love, and provide a role model for his lover, while the eromenos offered his partner with beauty, youth, admiration, and love.
Sources for Ancient Roman homosexual practice, and attitudes and acceptance of it are abundantly available. There are literary works, poems, graffiti and comments on the sexual predelictions of Roman emperors.
All the emperors with the exception of Claudius took male lovers. The Hellenophile emperor Hadrian is renowned for his relationship with Antinous.
From :
Homosexuality and the Nazi Party
by Scott Lively
One of the keys to understanding both the rise of Nazism and the later persecution of some homosexuals by the Nazis is found in this early history of the German "gay rights" movement.
For it was the CS (Community of the Special) which created and shaped what would become the Nazi persona, and it was the loathing which these "Butches" held for effeminate homosexuals ("Femmes") which led to the internment of some of the latter in slave labor camps in the Third Reich.
The CS fashioned itself as a modern incarnation of the warrior cults of ancient Greece. Modeling themselves after the military heroes of Sparta, Thebes and Crete, the members of the CS were ultra-masculine, male-supremacist and pederastic (devoted to man/boy sex).
From Boy Scouts to Brownshirts,
the "Butch" homosexuals of the CS transformed Germany. Their primary vehicle was the German youth movement, known as the Wandervogel (Rovers or Wandering Youth). "In Central Europe," writes homosexual historian Parker Rossman, "there was another effort to revive the Greek ideal of pedagogic pederasty in the movement of 'Wandering Youth'... Ultimately, Hitler used and transformed the movement...expanding and building upon its romanticism as a basis for the Nazi Party" (Rossman:103).
"They claim that they are enlightened harbinger's of openness and acceptance."
"They have portrayed it as a simple campaign against primitive beliefs which must give way to the superior ideas of the secular Western world. They sincerely want to educate religious Jews in what they view as advanced morality and ethics. They want to show us that peace will result from discarding outdated religious ideas and that if we accept their views -- peace is just around the corner."
History has proven via the example of the Ancient Greeks, the Ancient Romans and the Nazis that nothing could be farther from the truth.
Its tough to sell the idea "that peace will result from discarding outdated religious ideas and that if we accept their views -- peace is just around the corner" in light of the inextricable bond between Hitler's Nazis and their homosexuality.
ReplyDeleteMore on Hitler's Homoerotic Brotherhood:
Whether or not Hitler was personally involved in homosexual relationships, the evidence is clear that he knowingly and intentionally surrounded himself with practicing homosexuals from his youth. Like Roehm, Hitler seemed to prefer homosexual companions and co-workers. In addition to Roehm and Hess, two of his closest friends, Hitler filled key positions with known or suspected homosexuals. Rector, himself a "gay Holocaust" revisionist, attempts to dismiss sources that attribute homosexuality to leading Nazis, but nevertheless writes that...
Reportedly, Hitler Youth leader, Baldur von Schirach was bisexual; Hitler's private attorney, Reich Legal Director, Minister of Justice, butcher Governor- General of Poland, and public gay-hater Hans Frank was said to be a homosexual; Hitler's adjutant Wilhelm Bruckner was said to be bisexual;...Walter Funk, Reich Minister of Economics [and Hitler's personal financial advisor] has frequently been called a "notorious" homosexual ...or as a jealous predecessor in Funk's post, Hjalmar Schacht, contemptuously claimed, Funk was a "harmless homosexual and alcoholic;" ...[Hitler's second in command] Hermann Goering liked to dress up in drag and wear campy make-up; and so on and so forth (Rector:57).
Igra, who confidently asserts that the above men were homosexuals, cites still other Hitler aides and close friends who were known homosexuals as well. He states that Hitler's chauffeur and one-time personal secretary, Emile Maurice, for example, was homosexual, as well as the pornographer Julius Streicher, who "was originally a school teacher, but was dismissed by the Nuremberg School Authorities, following numerous charges of pederasty brought against him" (Igra:72f). SS Chief Heinrich Himmler's "pederastic proclivities [were] captured on film" by Nazi filmmaker Walter Frenz (Washington City Paper, April 4, 1995). Reinhard Heydrich, mastermind of the first pogrom, Kristallnacht, and of the death camps, was homosexual (Calic:64). In The Twelve Year Reich, Richard Grunberger tells of a party given by Nazi propagandist, Joseph Goebbels, which degenerated into a homosexual orgy (Grunberger:70). A recent biography of Albert Speer by Gitta Sereny speaks of a "homo-erotic (not sexual) relationship" between Speer and Hitler (Newsweek, Oct. 30, 1995). Langer notes that Hitler's personal bodyguards were "almost always 100 percent homosexuals" (Langer:179). Hitler's later public pronouncements against homosexuality never quite fit with the lifelong intimacy-sexual or otherwise-which he maintained with men he knew and accepted as homosexuals.
In light of the above it is not surprising that many of those whose ideas influenced Hitler were also homo-sexual. Chief among those were occultists Jorg Lanz Von Liebenfels and Guido von List. In 1958, Austrian psychologist Wilhelm Daim published Der Mann der Hitler die Ideen gab ("The Man Who Gave Hitler His Ideas") in which he called Lanz the true "father" of National Socialism. Lanz was a former Cistercian monk who had been excommunicated for homosexuality (Sklar:19). After being expelled from the monastery, Lanz formed an occultic order called the Ordo Novi Templi or The Order of the New Temple (ONT). The ONT was an offshoot of the Ordo Templi Orientis which practiced tantric sex rituals (Howard:91).
On Christmas day, 1907, many years before it would become the symbol of the Third Reich, Lanz and other members of the ONT raised the swastika flag over the castle which Lanz had purchased to house the order (Goodrick-Clarke:109). Lanz chose the swastika, he said, because it was the ancient pagan symbol of Wotan, the god of storms (Cavendish:1983). (Wotan, the inspiration for "Storm Troopers," was the Teutonic equivalent of Baal in the Old Testament and Zeus in Greek culture). Waite notes that it was through Lanz that Hitler would learn that most of his heroes of history were also "practicing homosexuals" (Waite, 1977:94f).
In the Camps
Although homosexuals were never targeted for extermination, some were interned in Nazi work camps. The actual number of pink-triangle prisoners, estimated at 5,000-15,000 by Joan Ringelheim of the US Holocaust museum (Rose:40), was a tiny fraction of the total camp population. Of these, an undetermined percentage were heterosexuals falsely labeled as homosexuals. Homosexuals who died in the camps (mostly of disease and starvation) were "a small fraction of less than 1 percent" of homosexuals in Germany (S. Katz:146), compared to more than 85 percent of European Jewry exterminated in the gas chambers. More significantly, many of the guards and administrators responsible for the infamous concentration camp atrocities were homosexuals themselves, which negates the proposition that homosexuals in general were being persecuted and interned.
While any prisoner could be chosen as a Kapo (a slave overseer), none of the other interned groups except homosexuals had counterparts among the Nazi guards and administrators. Examples of the homosexuality of the concentration camp guards can be found in many of the personal accounts of Holocaust survivors. Elie Wiesel, sent to the Buna factory camp in the Auschwitz complex, for example, acknowledges this in his book Night:
The head of our tent was a German. An assassin's face, fleshy lips, hands like wolf's paws. He was so fat he could hardly move. Like the leader of the camp he loved children...(Actually this was not a disinterested affection: there was a considerable traffic in young children among homosexuals here, I learned later) (Wiesel:59).
In Treblinka, the narrative account of the Treblinka uprising, Steiner records the story of another Nazi administrator, taken from interviews with survivors:
Max Bielas had a harem of little Jewish boys. He liked them young, no older than seventeen. He had a kind of parody of the shepherds of Arcadia, their role was to take care of the camp flock of geese. They were dressed like little princes...Bielas had a little barracks built for them that looked like a doll's house...Bielas sought in Treblinka only the satisfaction of his homosexual instincts (Steiner:117f).
From: The Pink Swastika: Homosexuals and the Nazi Party (Keizer, Oregon: Founders Publishing Company, 1995).
(this for posting)
ReplyDeleteAside from concerns I have aired on other posts, one *principle* reason I believe this approach of protest is misguided is as follows: The parade will come and go, whether you protest or not. But the encouragement to protest, and the rhetoric used, trains people to be kannaim. After you train people to react radically in *one* instance, they are more prone to act radically in other situations.
Do you really want your fellow Jews to be kannaim, to be Pinchases, in other situations? Even *if* this present situation merits it, you have to live with these people throughout the rest of the year.
The fellow who beat up the woman for daring to sit on the mehadrin bus -- he *also* was upset that such a terrible thing was being done in his holy Yerushalayim, on his holy mehadrin bus. The fellow who poured acid on that poor girl in Beitar Illit was horrified that a temptress would go about dressed like this in Israel. The same for those who pour bleach on clothing they deem non-tzniusdik. And the chareidim who protested the showing of a nature film on a flight to Uman. And so on and so forth. Perhaps you agree to one or two cases, but I would guess not to all of them.
However, the rhetoric used is equally applicable to all those other cases. And training people to react in this way will lead to an environment in which masses of people are kannaim.
Do you think that this is a positive direction for chareidi Judaism in Israel to take?
Kol Tuv,
Josh
Josh's point is well taken, but the problematic situations he cites are each acts of individuals abiding by their personal motivations, and were not communal activities directed by the Rabbeim.
ReplyDelete