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Page 12 THE SOUTHER* ISRAELITE July 27, 1979
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Gay movement causes
disapproval and debate
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HMUUUlW
by William Frankel
London Jewish Chronicle
NEW YORK Rabbi Norman
Umm, the Orthodox scholar who
heads Yeshiva University, has
argued that, for practical reasons
alone, all legislation and
punishment in the area of the
conduct between consenting adults
in regard to homosexuality should
be done away with. But since
homosexuality is . regarded by
normative Judaism as an
“abomination," the least that the
Jewish community should do is to
maintain "a strong disapproval of
the proscribed act.”
His conclusion—and I believe it
is widely accepted both in
Orthodox and Conservative
Judaism in America—is that the
“repeal of anti-homosexual laws
implies the removal of the stigma
from homosexuality, and this
diminution of social censure
weakens society in its training of
the young towards acceptable
patterns of conduct...Law itself
has an educational function and
the repeal of laws, no matter how
justifiable such repeal may be from
one point'of view, does have the
effect of signalling the
acceptability of greater
permissiveness.”
ELarly in 1978, seven major
Jewish organizations (including
Lubavitch), issued a joint
condemnation of the gay
movement, calling for the defeat of
all gay rights bills. "For the past
decade," they declared, “religious
Jewish Americans have watched
with increasing outrage the
cancerous growth and increasing
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power of the homosexual revolt in
America" They conclude, “The
Law of Sinai, which is the
foundation of our civilization and
of our legal system, must not be
replaced by the I-aw of Sodom and
Gomorrah."
In more measured terms, Rabbi
Emmanuel Rackman has
opinion of the writer that, as long
as that situation prevails, these
synagogues perform a vital
religious function. We need not
alienate any Jew or group of Jews
who wish to gather for study and
prayer, sexual preferences
notwithstanding ”
On the issue of gay synagogues,
‘We ought to show every compassion
for the sinner, but not for the sin...’
expressed what would appear to be
the consensus view of Orthodox
and Conservative rabbinical
leadership. He says that “we
cannot let it be known that there
are available equally approved
styles of sexual gratification Hie
privacy and security of
homosexuals should he protected
but, alas, the Halacha cannot
countenance the ultimate goal
they crave, to wit, that theirs is as
acceptable a form ol union as any
other."
But that does not dispose of the
whole of the problem for religious
Jewry. Though homosexuality is
condemned, what should be the
approach of the religious
community to homosexuals
knowing that, for many if not most
of them, the possibility of a change
to heterosexuality is practically
nil? Rabbi David Feldman, the
Conservative authority on Jewish
law, has written that “we ought to
show every compassion for the
sinner, but not for the sin; for the
actor, but not for the act of
homosexuality."
That too would be widely
accepted. But then does this
approach not lead to the
acceptance of synagogues for
homosexuals? Ihe Law Commit
tee of the Rabbinical Assembly
(Conservative) has answered in the
negative with a ruling that “no
special homosexual synagogues
should be established” though it
has not gone unchallenged
Writing in the Summer 1977 issue
of the (Conservative) United
Synagogue Review, Rabbi B D
Schwartz asserted that "separate
gay synagogues have been formed
precisely because the homosexual
has not felt comfortable in existing
religious institutions. It is the
the voice of Orthodoxy is
unequivocal Rabbi Lamm states
that, “to assent to the organization
of separate 'gay' groups under
Jewish auspices makes no more
sense, Jewishly, than to suffer the
formation of synagogues that cater
exclusively to idol worshippers,
adulterers, gossipers, tax evaders
or Sabbath violators Indeed, it
makes less sense because it
provides, under religious auspices,
a ready-made clientele from which
the homosexual can more readily
choose his partners ”
No statistics are available to
indicate whether the number of
Jewish gays is disproportionately
high. There is, however, little
doubt that the Jews are
disproportionately prominent in
the movement. For one thing,
many of them work in the
communications industry—they
are experienced as writers and
speakers and have become the
most articulate spokesmen for gay
rights. It also owes much to the fact
that the movement is predomi
nantly a big city phenomenon
and Jews are largely urban
One way or another,
homosexuality is likely to continue
as a Jewish issue in the United
States. Religious and communal
agencies will have to confront a
number of problems if the gay
synagogues continue to grow and
seek to play a part in the wide
range of communal activities Will
the national organizations accept
them? And other questions have
already been raised like “Can a
Jewish homosexual become a
rabbi?" and “Can a synagogue
celebrate a homosexual union?"
The debate in American Jewry
has only just begun
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