Jewish edian Modi Rosenfeld, a mastay for Orthodox dienc, is gay. So what? - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Contents:

• GAY AND ORTHODOX: AND CLEAVG STRONGLY TO BOTH
• THE GAY ORTHODOX UNRGROUND
• GAY, ORTHODOX, AND TREMBLG: THE RISE OF JEWISH ORTHODOX GAY NSCNS, 1970S-2000S
• GAY AND ORTHODOX: BOOK CHARTS THE RISE OF A ONCE UNTHKABLE DUAL INTY ISRAEL
• GAY AND ORTHODOX: AN OXYMORON NO MORE
• LGBT-DOX: IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE GAY AND ORTHODOX JEWISH?/ BY TALIA
• GAY, ORTHODOX, AND ON THE INTER
• GAY AND ORTHODOX: A STGGLE FOR RELIG RIGHTS
• JEWISH EDIAN MODI ROSENFELD, A MASTAY FOR ORTHODOX DIENC, IS GAY. SO WHAT?
• RSIAN GAY ACTIVISTS DETAED AFTER UNSANCTNED LGBT RIGHTS RALLY IN MOSW
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

GAY AND ORTHODOX: AND CLEAVG STRONGLY TO BOTH

The liberal Jewish movements have unrgone dramatic shifts their approach to gay, lbian and transgenr Jews the past two s, but among the Orthodox the chang have been far ls dramatic — and many quarters, virtually seemgly clear biblil nunciatns of homosexual sex, as well as the rp of rabbic mentari and legal s based on those vers, lim how far Orthodox Judaism, marked by s fily to tradnal unrstandgs of Jewish law, or halacha, n move on this several efforts have emerged recent years to lend more support to Orthodox Jews experiencg homosexual sir and make the muny more passnate and welg toward them, all the efforts stop short of sanctng gay relatnships. Consired s totaly, Orthodox Jewish tradn down firmly favor of heterosexualy as God’s tentn for humany, which has turn severely limed the acceptance of homosexualy wh the Orthodox muny.

Diversy Orthodox ApproachWhile virtually no Orthodox rabbi explicly sanctns homosexual relatnships, there is some diversy of opn how the Orthodox muny ought to rpond to gay Jews. The two pol of this bate are fairly well leated by two petg statements on the first, entled “Statement of Prcipl on the Place of Jews wh a Homosexual Orientatn Our Communy, ” was drafted by a faculty member at the liberal Orthodox rabbil school Yhivat Chovevei Torah and released 2010.

THE GAY ORTHODOX UNRGROUND

While acknowledgg the halachic (Jewish legal) ban on homosexual sex and rejectg any acceptance of same-sex marriage, the statement neverthels asserted that gays should be weled as full and equal members of Orthodox muni and should, most s, not be enuraged to marry someone of the oppose genr. The Statement of Prcipl cled to weigh on the qutn of whether homosexual orientatn is geic and unchangeable, or if is a choice, as some people 2016, the Israeli Morn Orthodox rabbil group Be Hillel issued a siar statement, urgg that gays be allowed to serve “any munal pacy. ”In 2011, a group of mostly ultra-Orthodox rabbis, along wh some Morn Orthodox on and a number of mental health profsnals, released “The Declaratn On The Torah Approach to Homosexualy.

However, rejected the notn that homosexualy is an sentially unchangeable orientatn as a theologil impossibily and sisted that “healg” gay urg is the only religly acceptable approach. Conversn TherapyConversn therapy — sometim also lled reparative or change therapy — refers to the effort to “cure” gays of same-sex attractn and enable them to lead heterosexual liv.

It is regard as effective and potentially harmful by the Amerin Medil Associatn, the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, the Amerin Psychologil Associatn and many the Orthodox muny, who for theologil reasons fd impossible to accept that a homosexual orientatn is unchangeable, ntue to advote for such therapi. The ultra-Orthodox claratn on homosexualy sists that homosexual impuls n be modified and that therapy n help wh “healg” the “emotnal wounds” that lead to homosexual sir. The claratn is featured on a webse that clus extensive rourc aimed at unterg the “misrmatn” that homosexualy is blogilly termed and atttg to the possibily of Orthodox rabbis have e to renounce their support for nversn therapy.

GAY, ORTHODOX, AND TREMBLG: THE RISE OF JEWISH ORTHODOX GAY NSCNS, 1970S-2000S

The RCA had prevly endorsed JONAH’s work, but whdrawg s endorsement the uncil ced evince that the therapy was effective and had potentially negative 2010 Statement of Prcipl assertg that gays should be weled affirmed “the relig right of those wh a homosexual orientatn to reject theraptic approach they reasonably see as els or dangero.

Jewish Queer Youth, or JQY, was found 2001 and acts as a support group and advocy group for LGBTQ Jews, wh a particular emphasis on Orthodox Orthodox Parents Uned by Love of Torah…And Our LGBT ChildrenIn 2015, JQY helped anize a nference that brought together Orthodox rabbis and mental health profsnals to talk about homosexualy what is believed to have been the first public discsn of s Tremblg Before G-d EffectThe progrs of gays and lbians gag acceptance wh Orthodoxy, limed though may be, is often creded to the 2001 documentary Tremblg Before G-d, which thst the stggl of Orthodox gays and lbians to the public nscns as never before. The film’s sympathetic portrayal of dividuals tryg to rencile their sexualy wh their relig mments earned high praise, but some the Orthodox muny saw as a shallow attempt to legimize viant sexual film promently featured Steven Greenberg, wily known as the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi.

GAY AND ORTHODOX: BOOK CHARTS THE RISE OF A ONCE UNTHKABLE DUAL INTY ISRAEL

In 2004, Greenberg published Wrtlg wh God and Men: Homosexualy the Jewish Tradn, which sought to rest the tradnal biblil prohibn on gay sex as a ban on exploative sex that aims to exercise power or to mean.

(By way of disclosure, the anizatn I found, Nehirim, is one of the partners Eshel, together wh the Gay & Lbian Yhiva and Day School Alumni Associatn, JQYouth, OrthoDyk and Tirtzah: A Communy of Fm Queer Women, although I am not on the Eshel program board. The LGBT Orthodox muny is g together on s own, and is not batg policy; is tellg s stori, supportg one another, and showg that there is more to beg a gay Orthodox Jew than tremblg.

For example, the Greek Orthodox Archdce lists homosexualy bi fornitn, adultery, abortn and abive sexual behavr as “immoral and appropriate forms of behavr and of themselv, and also bee they attack the stutn of marriage and the fay. A repentant, stgglg homosexual who reas om homosexual acts n be received to the church after the ual urse of stctn, but he or she would do bt to keep this matter the nfsnal, jt as is mon wh every other s. It’s not jt homosexualy; the Orthodox Church oppos today’s cultural permissivens the area of sexualy generally, pecially wh regard to habatn, promiscuy, and var forms of eroticism.

GAY AND ORTHODOX: AN OXYMORON NO MORE

The send aim is to offer an opportuny for nstctive cricism and ments on the official and not so official stanc of the Orthodox Church and Orthodox Christians on homosexualy. By exprsg our stori, Orthodox Christians who are gay have the opportuny to hopefully one day change the official posn of the Church on issu such as sexual orientatn and gay marriage. In rponse to the Supreme Court’s lg favor of marriage equaly, the Unn of Orthodox Congregatns released a statement, sayg, “We reerate the historil posn of the Jewish fah, enunciated unequivolly our Bible, Talmud and Cos, which forbids homosexual relatnships and nmns the stutnalizatn of such relatnships as marriag.

The persons say that the Bible and Church Tradn do not nmn homosexual behavur, but have been misterpreted and mised, sometim unknowgly and other tim que willfully, by prejudiced and hostile people who hate homosexuals. Other homosexual Christians hold that their sexual orientatn is not om God – except provintially, sce the Lord’s plan evably volv human eedom and s but riv om human flt. The people hold that they are lled by God to stggle agast their homosexual tennci as all people are lled to stggle agast the sful passns which they fd wh themselv, while they work to heal the of their disorientatn and disease.

Given the tradnal Orthodox unrstandg of the Old and New Ttament scriptur as exprsed the Church’s lurgil worship, sacramental r, nonil regulatns and liv and teachgs of the sats, is clear that the Orthodox Church intifi solidly wh those Christians, homosexual and heterosexual, who nsir homosexual orientatn as a disorr and disease, and who therefore nsir homosexual actns as sful and stctive. Do not be ceived; neher the sexually immoral (or fornitors), nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals (or sodom; lerally those who have , or who sleep, wh men), nor thiev, nor the greedy, nor dnkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will her the kgdom of God. It is not ma any easier by the mdls, tly monic hatred of those who spise and ridicule those who rry this paful and burnsome cross; nor by the mdls, equally monic affirmatn of homosexual activy by s misguid advot and enablers.

LGBT-DOX: IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE GAY AND ORTHODOX JEWISH?/ BY TALIA

Like all temptatns, passns and ss, cludg those eply, and oftentim seemgly libly embedd our nature by our sorrowful herance, homosexual orientatn n be cured and homosexual actns n cease. When homosexual Christians are willg to stggle, and when they receive patient, passnate and thentilly lovg assistance om their fai and iends – each of whom is stgglg wh his or her own temptatns and ss; for no one is whout this stggle one form or another, and no one is whout s but God – the Lord guarante victory ways known to Himself. There is no official membership, and only a handful of people are willg to put their nam on support-group Ashkazy, a gay-rights activist and Orthodox Jew who liv New York Cy, says he has spoken wh over 200 gay Orthodox Jews over the past few years.

Open and Secret Support Groups In the New York area, home to the largt ncentratn of gay Orthodox Jews, at least four support groups have spng up to meet their needs. The first Wt Coast support group was found Los Angel by "Jab, " a 54-year-old Orthodox gay Jew who had been married and livg a New York suburb until ten years ago, when he nfsed to his wife that he was gay. He started attendg an Orthodox synagogue, but was treated as a send-class member (he did not receive aliyot [he was not lled up to the Torah], for example) bee he was gay.

Richard Isay, a gay New York-based psychoanalyst, timat that 15 to 20 percent of gay men marry women–bee they want to ny or "cure" their gayns, or want children, or to please their parents. Tremblg Before God pris terviews wh Orthodox Jewish gay and lbian persons who vividly and movgly scribe their stggl to live their liv as observant Jewish people, beg fahful at the same time to their sexual sir and their relig tradn.

GAY, ORTHODOX, AND ON THE INTER

Orthodox gays and lbians experience a greater dissonance between their sexualy and the valu of their muny and therefore face more anxieti and ner turmoils than gays and lbians who live more permissive environments.

In fact, while is almost impossible to be a sexually active gay or lbian and a practicg Southern Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Jehovah's Wns, or Mormon, is not impossible for gays and lbians to live their liv an Orthodox Jewish environment.

GAY AND ORTHODOX: A STGGLE FOR RELIG RIGHTS

Ias about LGBTQ clivy have been rapidly evolvg and diversifyg sce the turn of the 21st century, as I document “Queer Judaism, ” my forthg book about homosexualy and Orthodox Judaism Israel.

Most Orthodox Jews mata that the Bible forbids homosexual relatnships and inti, and emphasize that only marriag that nsist of a hband and wife are nsistent wh Jewish tradn. The dozens of gay, lbian and bisexual Orthodox Jews I terviewed ndidly spoke of the digni they enuntered tryg to f to the expectatns: experienc of shame, secrecy, nial, reprsn, fay drama and spirual harm.

In a move that would have been unthkable even jt 20 years ago, Cherki clared his tentn to live his life publicly as a relig gay man – and is arguably the most well-known Orthodox Israeli to e out of the closet.

JEWISH EDIAN MODI ROSENFELD, A MASTAY FOR ORTHODOX DIENC, IS GAY. SO WHAT?

The revolutn among relig gay Israelis is precisely what amic Or Avishai charts and explor her new book, “Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remakg of Jewish Orthodoxy Israel.

Drawg on terviews wh dozens of gay relig Israeli Jews and activists, experienc at Orthodox LGBTQ events and time rearchg and readg msage boards, Avishai trac the history of gay activism Israel’s relig worlds and the rapid transformatn attus and advocy. In the book – which is amic nature but a fairly accsible read – Avishai speaks wh many Orthodox LGBTQ Israelis who refed to nce that beg gay meant they would have to leave behd their relig muni and way of life. And while Avishai adms that the muny of actively relig gay Israelis is not a large one, the movement and the chang also tell a wir story of shiftg attus Orthodoxy.

RSIAN GAY ACTIVISTS DETAED AFTER UNSANCTNED LGBT RIGHTS RALLY IN MOSW

But the profsor admted that she may have pated too sunny an outlook – as many Orthodox muni rema stnchly homophobic, and far-right anti-LGBTQ activist Avi Maoz was hand a ernmental posn jt a few months ago. They also work wh shuls to help mystify what might be like to have a gay man or woman e to shul, be honored wh a kibud, and make them feel wele our Orthodox muny. Consirg that the relig right, cludg the mastream Orthodox Jewish muny, is known for s anti-gay stance, may seem surprisg that there are observant Jews who also intify as LGBT+.

In 2009, Yhiva Universy, an Orthodox stutn based New York, held a panel discsn entled “Beg Gay the Orthodox World: A Conversatn wh Members of the Yhiva Universy Communy. Several gay and straight Jewish celebri, policians, and anizatns have released It Gets Better vios, cludg sgers Sir Ari Gold and Adam Lambert, ngrsperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz, actor Lisa Elste, and the Reform rabbil semary Hebrew Unn College – Jewish Instute of Relign.

One proment anti-gay ultra-Orthodox rabbi, Yehuda Lev, claims that there is a “ant homosexual activist playbook” and believ that is possible for a gay dividual to change his or her sexualy through reparative therapy: “As you do wh ncer, you never stop tryg to fd a better treatment to cure yourself. Even Greece, where half of Orthodox Christians say society should accept homosexualy, only a quarter (25%) say gay and lbian upl should be able to marry legally.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

There, Orthodox Christians are more acceptg of the practice; more than half (54% as of 2014) favor allowg gay and lbian upl to marry legally, almost mirrorg the share of Amerin adults overall who took this posn 2014 (53%). As is te for homosexualy and same-sex marriage, Orthodox Christians former Soviet republics are somewhat more nservative on the legaly of abortn than are other Orthodox Christians Eastern Europe.

While more recent surveys did not ask Orthodox Ethpians about homosexualy, same-sex marriage or abortn, a 2008 Pew Rearch Center survey did ask this group about the moraly of “homosexual behavr, ” of “havg an abortn, ” and other behavrs. In 2008, nearly all Orthodox Christians Ethpia (95%) said “homosexual behavr” is morally wrong, while the vast majory (83%) also said this about havg an abortn. Orthodox Christians Ethpia are more likely than those most Eastern European untri to raise moral objectns to several of the behavrs, although Orthodox Christians Eastern Europe – both former Soviet republics and elsewhere – also wily see homosexual behavr and prostutn as morally wrong.

A gay woman wr about enunterg — and unterg — homophobia at the Shabbos table, along wh her journey to embrace herself, and her sire to have a nice, tradnal Jewish fay…wh another nice Jewish girl by her Give ‘Em Hope. The foundatn of Orthodox Judaism’s animosy toward homosexualy stems om the longstandg terpretatn of a seri of vers Levic that prohib homosexualy: “Thou shalt not lie wh mankd, as wh womankd: is abomatn” (Levic 18:22).