Gay and Orthodox: And Cleavg Strongly to Both – The Forward

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. 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.

THE GAY ORTHODOX UNRGROUND

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.

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.

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

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. 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.

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

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.

GAY AND ORTHODOX: AN OXYMORON NO MORE

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. 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.

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

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.

GAY, ORTHODOX, AND ON THE INTER

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.

GAY AND ORTHODOX: A STGGLE FOR RELIG RIGHTS

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.

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

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. 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.

RSIAN GAY ACTIVISTS DETAED AFTER UNSANCTNED LGBT RIGHTS RALLY IN MOSW

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.

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

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. 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. 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.