Wednesday, May 03, 2006

I think this article pretty much sounds about the same as if I would have written it myself.

A rabbi's struggle: To allow gay clergy or not?

As I have become acquainted with more pious and knowledgeable gay and lesbian Jews, I have asked myself why God would design some people with a trait — for which there is paltry evidence that it can be reversed — and then designate individuals with that characteristic as "sinners?" Even if triggered by a gene mutation, as some argue, what is sinful about that?...

The biblical demand of "an eye for an eye" was interpreted in the Talmud as the monetary value of a wounded eye, and not an actual gouging. The Bible also orders the stoning of an unruly son, but the Talmud already qualified that as theoretical, saying, "It was never done nor will it be done.".....

I need to get comfortable, for example, witnessing a rabbi and his male partner dancing at my synagogue's spring social, or seeing two lesbians hand-in-hand at the Torah while celebrating their daughter's bat mitzvah. I am confident that, eventually, religious commitment will trump sexual orientation.

2 comments:

Howard said...

You caught me! It's tru that I'm basically double posting here and at LJ. I just can't bear to leave the blogger thing and the years and 2000+ posts I've put into it. I do like the interaction of LJ better though.

Jack Steiner said...

well said.