OK, thanks for the introduction Michael. I'm excited about this, so let's jump right in.
I am an Orthodox Jew. By that, all I mean is that I live in an Orthodox Jewish community where it's expected that I believe certain things and act a certain way. In this community, we rely on our tradition of interpretation of the Torah to provide us with direction in our lives.
So, the Torah (Vayikra 18:22) says that a homosexual relationship is an abomination, and instructs whoever feels that the Torah is authoritative to not dare lie with a man as one would with a woman.
However, it is my distinct moral sense that it is immoral to forbid those who are born with homosexual desires from fulfilling those desires. First such an issur dooms gay people to live a life of loneliness if they obey it (at least, it would seem to me that this would be a result). Second, there doesn't seem to me to be any non-Torah reason for homosexuality to be deemed immoral, that would counteract any loneliness or angst or depression. Though this moral view of mine could potentially change, at this moment I hold this as a firm moral value.
The question then is, how do I relate to what the Torah says? Let's lay out a few possibilities here, and then call it a day and give Dov a chance to respond:
THE TORAH IS RIGHT
Now, there are a couple different ways that the Torah could be right. First, you can think that the Torah is making a moral judgement on homosexuality. I might think that the Torah (including whatever interpretation our tradition has given things) is making a moral judgement for today, and that since the Torah (thusly interpreted) is clearly the word of God, my moral opinion is simply wrong. Even though I can't understand why my moral view is wrong, it simply is. Then my course is clear: I need to change my views, however I can.
But the Torah could be right in a different sense. Maybe the Torah's prohibition is not a moral judgement, but rather because of...well, something else. Most Jews wouldn't say that driving on Shabbos is immoral, the same way theft is. Rather, there are ritual commandments and moral commandments (at least, so the story goes). The ritual commandments are for other reasons--sometimes we understand the reasons, other times we simply don't understand the reasons. I wonder if this could be a possible direction that I could go in? Probably not, simply because the Torah lists this as a 'toevah', which certainly sounds disgusting and immoral. But maybe this would be helpful? There's still a problem of "How can God demand obedience to a law that will have immoral side-effects?", but at least it's not a conflict between my moral sense and the actual moral judgement of the document that came from God.
THE TORAH IS WRONG
Finally, it could be that I think that the law is wrong, that homosexuality is not an abomination. In that case, I need to figure out how the Torah can be wrong.
Anyway, that's the frame that I'm going to be starting out with. So, Dov, tell me: are you troubled by what the Torah says about homosexuality? If so, what do you propose?
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2 comments:
What's interesting about this post, for me, is how you take Orthodox Judaism for granted. Maybe clarifying where you stand theologically, outside of this local issue, will be helpful for readers? What are you taking for granted and what are you willing to challenge?
Personally? Personally I'm not sure how to respond to biblical criticism, but I can't deny the fact that I believe that the Torah is divine. I can't possibly help it--that's just the way I am right now. So I firmly believe in the divine status of the Torah, with a little bit of doubt :). But this line of argument is absolutely dedicated to arguing from within Orthodox Judaism--is there a way to be an Orthodox Jew in every normal regard while still believing that a certain biblical prohibition is unethical?
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