But as
an adherent of a philosophy that believes in a Power much greater than
ourselves… a Power that revealed His will to the human race in the Torah and specifically
to the Jewish people at Sinai, I cannot stay silent when I see those principles
being violated.
Last September Rabbi Avi Weiss’s Shul, The Hebrew
Institute of Riverdale (HIR) congratulated a homosexual couple upon their ‘engagement’
to each other. They wished Mazal Tov to them and the entire family. I cannot
express enough my disappointment, dismay, and objection to this statement.
Simply put what happened here is that a
Shul which calls itself Orthodox gave its blessing to homosexual relations. Which are clearly forbidden in the Torah on pain of death - if witnessed and warned
by 2 people at a time where the Sanhedrin convenes. (Which is certainly not the case today but still biblically forbidden).
I realize of course that they technically did not do that. They
just said Mazal Tov to an engagement and not to anything sinful that may result from that. But that is a distinction that is very likely lost on the
vast majority of people that see it. They will no doubt see it as an Orthodox
Shul blessing homosexual relations.
There is really no other way to look at it. And that is clearly wrong.
I have said many times that I have no problem with
anyone that is gay. It is not a a person’s sexual orientation that the Torah
forbids. It is only acting on it in forbidden ways that is. I’ve also said in the past tat I believe
that same sex attraction may very well be unchangeable.
Whether it is nature or
nurture doesn’t really matter that much to me. I respect people by virtue of
their character and do not judge them by their sexual orientation. What people do
in private whether sinful or not - is not my or anyone else’s business. That is between them and God.
But I cannot respect violations of the Torah. Nor anything that in any way implies that certain violations are worthy of blessing.
And yet, that is what the Supreme Court has done by ruling
gay marriage to be a civil right. They have given the blessing of this great
country to homosexual behavior forbidden by the bible upon which many of this country’s values and laws are based. In essence they are
saying that America’s current humanistic values are more ethical than God’s
law.
And this too is what HIR has done. We can parse what they did all day
long. They can say that they did not bless the act of homosexuality that the
Torah forbids. They blessed only the couple’s ‘engagement’ to be married. But
the implications are the same as those of the Supreme Court. And I cannot protest enough.
I am not a fan of Yated Publisher, Rabbi Pinchos
Lipshutz. I have in the past been highly critical of his views on various issues
affecting Orthodox Jewry. But when he’s right, he’s right. This is one of those
times. On the heels of Agudah’s convetion, Rabbi Lipshutz made reference to
this issue in his weekly column. He referenced what Agudah Moetzes head, Rabbi Yaakov
Perlow said about this at the convention:
He drew attention to the Mazel Tov announcement on the engagement of two men in the synagogue bulletin.
He warned that “the soton – and he’s standing next to everybody – comes sometimes with reasonable sympathetic arguments in the name of fairness, equality, enlightenment and being good natured and accepting and before you know it – if you are not on guard with strong Torah ideals – you can fall into his trap.”
Rabbi Perlow recognizes the human quality at work
here. He knows that from a humanistic perspective, one should indeed ‘live and
let live’. But he also knows that no
matter what the intention it is a ‘corruption of Torah ideals’ to publicly congratulate
a gay union.
Rabbi Lipshutz also mentions the statement issued by
TORA. They are a group of Orthodox rabbis (of which I am a member) committed to:
…offering an authentic Torah viewpoint to the media (that) will help counteract those voices that, as we see it, occasionally distort or dilute the Torah’s message.
That statement read in part as follows:
“We call upon spiritual and lay leaders and members of the public of respective synagogues not to congratulate or celebrate, whether orally or in writing, those celebrating life cycle events in violation of Jewish law, included but not limited to halakhically prohibited marriages…
“When there are events we cannot condone, it is not out of contempt or disrespect, but rather out of a firm commitment to the Torah, its values and its worldview, which requires us all to submit to the Torah even when doing so is difficult or inexpedient.
This is exactly how I feel. But on a Facebook page called Torat Chayim, rabbis supporting what HIR did
came back with a nasty attack against those of us that saw it this way. They
called the Yated editorial homophobic and even heretical. Heretical because by criticizing the
words ‘Mazal Tov’ it is a violation of Bal Tosif – the Torah prohibition
against adding to a Mitzvah that is limited to what the Torah spells
out. Then they proceed to pat themselves on the back for saying Mazal Tov to
families that are committed to building families with a commitment to Torah and
Mitzvos.
Enyaim LoHem V’Lo Yiru (Yirmiyahu 5:20). None are
so blind as those who will not see. No
one is saying that the words ‘Mazal Tov’ are forbidden. That is ridiculous. Nor
does anyone criticize saying Mazal Tov to people that are committed to building
families with a commitment to Torah and Mitzvos. What we are critical of is saying Mazal Tov in the context of a gay union. Which is a Chilul HaShem they are
completely blinded to.
