Sunday, February 3, 2013

"Standing Up for Our Gay Kids" by Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater

"While commitment to halachic (legal) norms is central to the definition of Orthodoxy, the rabbi's comparison is absurd. Human sexuality is not a gastronomic whim, and lifelong intimacy is not a cheeseburger. Nobody jumps off a bridge because he or she is deprived of a cheeseburger. No one sinks in clinical depression or submits to electroshock therapy for the sake of a ham sandwich. The gross misunderstanding of human sexual expression as mere bodily gratification is all the more shocking in this case because the rabbi who made the comparison between sexuality and cheeseburgers is not only a scholar in the rabbinical school but a physician as well." (p. 12) 
"One more word on Greenberg's life before coming to today. He remained within the Orthodox world, and is still a leading scholar. He writes in his book, "Is it possible to believe that, in light of new realities, the standard halachic ruling on homosexual relations is in error and still be a loyal advocate of the system? I think so. I am committed to the halachic system, both in theory and practice. However, I believe that the proper Halachah, the one that treats this phenomenon responsibly, honestly, and intelligently, is not the present one. In fact, I believe that avoiding the issue of sexuality and gender at this moment in history will prove disastrous." (p. 13) I couldn't agree with Rabbi Greenberg more."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-joshua-levine-grater/standing-up-for-our-gay-k_b_757268.html

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