YNET
Dozens of Orthodox rabbis have signed a statement of principles saying that religious communities must accept those of its members who are "active homosexuals" and their biological or adopted children, and that they must not be encouraged to undergo "change therapies" or marry someone of the opposite sex.
The statement was formulated following a panel held by the "rashei yeshiva ramim" six months ago in New York. The panel included three homosexual graduates of the Yeshiva University, and was hosted by its spiritual supervisor, Rabbi Yosef Blau. [...]
Dozens of Orthodox rabbis have signed a statement of principles saying that religious communities must accept those of its members who are "active homosexuals" and their biological or adopted children, and that they must not be encouraged to undergo "change therapies" or marry someone of the opposite sex.
The statement was formulated following a panel held by the "rashei yeshiva ramim" six months ago in New York. The panel included three homosexual graduates of the Yeshiva University, and was hosted by its spiritual supervisor, Rabbi Yosef Blau. [...]
You should link to their original statement. The YNET article is misleading in certain aspects. Not that I agree with the Statement, either, I think it is a shonda.
ReplyDeleteBut to be fair you should judge them by what they actually wrote, not by what some newspaper hack (who may have his own agenda) paraphrased them.
I often wonder what statements like these are designed to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, if it's to remind us that all human beings need to be treated with respect, well that should be obvious.
If it's to say "Well even though homosexual intercourse is a sin we're going to ignore that so as not to hurt the person's feelings", would you ignore chilul Shabbos or kashrus as well? And if so, what are you saying about how important mitzvos observance is?
Why do you dignify them by referring to them as rabbis?
ReplyDeleteEvery morning I say the brachot:
ReplyDeleteShelo asani goy
Shelo asani aved
Shelo asani ishah.
Am I now supposed to add one more:
Shelo asani homo ?
What's the problem? Homosexuality is one sin.
ReplyDeleteSo is money laundering and so is masturbation. Do we encourage slick attorneys and accountants to undergo "therapies" to make an honest living? Do we send teenage boys to a therapist if we find they've been masturbating?
What about Shabbos violators? Do we encourage professional counseling to all people who don't properly keep Shabbos?
What about women who don't cover their hair. "Tsnius therapy?"
Why single out the sin of being actively homosexual?
The Rabbis who say that we must accept active homosexuals are 100% correct, assuming they also accept people don't make the most honest living, don't dress modestly, don't keep Shabbos properly etc.
Judaism in most cases strives to accept the individual and reject the behavior. It should be no different for homosexuals.
(If they are a danger to the community, such as a child molester, that's a different story of course).
After all, if it's to remind us that all human beings need to be treated with respect, well that should be obvious.
ReplyDeleteBut either it isn't obvious or it isn't being done, so kol hakavod to these rabbis for saying it. The public humiliation of Bar Kamtza was also obviously wrong, and so no one said anything about it. See where that led.
We all know that Homosexuality is specifically forbidden in the Torah multiple times, while child molestation isn't mentioned at all. Before reading the next statement, please know that I've tried to help both homosexuals & pedophiles to straighten out their lives - with no success. It seems like there is a double standard, accept the homosexuals but ostracize the pedophiles!
ReplyDeleteYB-
ReplyDeleteA homosexual and a pedophile are different in a very significant way. Pedophilia requires forcing oneself upon confused, unsuspecting children who are often not psychologically equipped to properly refuse an inappropriate sexual advance, thus driving the pedophile to effectively become a serial rapist.
Homosexuality (of the typical, non-pedophilic variety) is lacking in that inherently coercive element. Gays, unlike pedophiles, don't have to resort to rape. They just seek out others that share their ta'avah(hence the popularity of gay bars and dance clubs). Thus, homosexuals do not pose an immediate danger to the well-being of innocent bystanders (their coarsening effect on the general cultural landscape notwithstanding). For example, back when I was a young adult, during college and immediately post-college, I had a few gay acquaintances express interest in me. Sometimes, if you're frum and don't act like a hormone-crazed frat-boy ogling every female that comes within 10 feet of you, they can get the wrong idea. However, they very quickly (and respectfully) desisted once I made it clear that I'm not interested in their advances.
The so called rabbis that started this petition are from YCT, poseurs who pretend to be orthodox when they sit on "batei din" with Reform & Conservative for gerus and kashrus.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.forward.com/articles/129696/
Even Rabbi Dr. Moses Tendler refused to sign, criticizing the backers as a bunch of wishful thinkers who assume that compromises can be made in the Torah.
Yekkishe Bekkishe should go back to the Chumash as he somehow missed that the Torah calls this perverted behavior "toayveh"
ReplyDelete