Crossing Another Line

Woman married to another woman ordained as a Maharat (screenshot)

I hate to keep bringing this up. I don’t want to be considered homophobic or obsessed with gay issues. But since I find myself compelled to address this issue so often, I fear that some of my friends on the left - especially those who are also observant Jews -  already see me that way. That’s painful. But I cannot let it silence me.

This issue speaks directly to how we are meant to live as God’s chosen people. The Torah - our divine instruction manual - lays out the blueprint for our lives. And when those who identify as observant Jews clearly distort its message, I feel obligated to speak out.

Let me be clear: I have no personal obsession with gay or transgender individuals. Nor is it my intent to cause them harm. On the contrary, I have consistently expressed sympathy for the struggles they face.

But here is where I part ways with them. Many do not view their same-sex attractions as a struggle at all. They see them as a normal part of their sexual identity. No different than heterosexual desire. And believe those attractions should be expressed freely and without guilt.

When it comes to gender dysphoria, the prevailing societal attitude is that it’s easily ‘correctable’. That if a man believes he is a woman or vice versa, then that identity should be affirmed and accommodated, with or without medical intervention. What matters, they say, is that such individuals can live happy, productive, and fulfilling lives - and that society should fully embrace and support their choices.

But this is not my personal obsession. It’s the cultural obsession of our time. If there is a defining divide between religious and secular worldviews today, it is over the source of moral authority. Religious people recognize a Power greater than ourselves (God) as the source of morality. We acknowledge our own limitations in determining right and wrong.

Secular individuals, by contrast, believe that morality is entirely subjective - defined by human reason, culture, or emotion. They reject ‘ancient instruction books’ as irrelevant, or deny that such texts were Divinely authored. Even those who claim to believe in God and His Torah may reinterpret or distort its teachings to fit contemporary values.

It’s this last category that I find most troubling: left-leaning Jews who identify as Orthodox, observe the ‘big three’ Mitzvos — Shabbos, Kashrus, and Taharas Hamishpacha. And claim to fully adhere to Halacha, while at the same time embracing the LGBTQ agenda as fully compatible with Torah Judaism.

A recent example (see video below) underscores this trend. At Yeshivat Maharat’s ordination ceremony - a school created to train women as rabbis - one of the graduates was a gay woman ‘married’ to another woman. In her address to the audience, she praised the institution for its inclusivity and cited the Mishnah in Avos: “It is not upon you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” The ‘work’ in this context was clearly framed as the advancement and full legitimization of LGBTQ identity and relationships. A cause that stands in clear contradiction to Torah values.

It’s troubling enough that Yeshivat Maharat exists in defiance of longstanding halachic consensus against women entering the rabbinate - a discussion for another time. But at least those advocating for that change attempt to offer a halachic argument. I disagree with them, as do the vast majority of rabbis across the Orthodox spectrum - aside from those on the far left.

But to ordain a woman whose personal lifestyle represents an open rejection of Torah prohibitions - and then give her the authority to rule on matters of Halacha - defies credulity. Yet this is precisely what has happened. This graduate studied the Shulchan Aruch, passed her exams, and is now regarded as an Orthodox authority on Jewish law.

She would likely argue that her lifestyle does not violate Halacha. That the Torah’s prohibition of homosexual relations doesn’t apply to those who were ‘born this way’. It is true that female homosexual acts are not classified as severely as male ones. Still, the behavior remains prohibited. To rationalize such behavior as permitted is, at best, self-deception.

What’s most disturbing is not that secular society has embraced values so far removed from biblical tradition. That’s regrettable, but not surprising. What’s disturbing is that someone now claiming to represent Orthodox Halacha - with a formal credential to prove it - is using that position to promote an agenda that is fundamentally at odds with the Torah’s values.

This must be unequivocally rejected by all who consider themselves part of the community of observant Jewry. Yeshivat Maharat’s actions in this regard are a betrayal of both Halacha and Jewish tradition.