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

Contents:

• THE GAY ORTHODOX UNRGROUND
• GAY AND ORTHODOX: AND CLEAVG STRONGLY TO BOTH
• GAY, ORTHODOX, AND TREMBLG: THE RISE OF JEWISH ORTHODOX GAY NSCNS, 1970S-2000S
• JEWISH EDIAN MODI ROSENFELD, A MASTAY FOR ORTHODOX DIENC, IS GAY. SO WHAT?

THE GAY ORTHODOX UNRGROUND

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. 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.

GAY AND ORTHODOX: AND CLEAVG STRONGLY TO BOTH

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. 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.

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

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. 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. 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.

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

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. 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.