Anti-Gay Prejudice has no Place in Judaism

by Rabbi Darren Kleinberg

On Jan. 4, 1861, the Rev. Morris J. Raphall preached a sermon in his New York City synagogue titled, "Bible View of Slavery - A Discourse." In the course of his sermon, Raphall states that the slavery of Africans was prophesied in the Bible when Noah cursed the descendants of his son Ham. He concludes that the mention of slavery in the Ten Commandments (in the commandment to observe the Sabbath) indicates that there is nothing sinful about slavery. He states: "How dare you, in the face of the sanction and protection afforded to slave property in the Ten Commandments - how dare you denounce slaveholding as a sin."

Thankfully, we have come to realize that Raphall, and all who defended slavery in the name of religion, were woefully wrong. We have come to realize that the Torah reflects the world in which it was created - the world of the ancient Near East, when slavery was commonplace and a world without it was unimaginable.

There are other examples of practices allowed, or commanded, in the Torah that we have come to understand as being part of another time and place. Polygamy, the selling of daughters in marriage and taking women captive in war have gone by the wayside as society has evolved from antiquity to modernity.

On Nov. 4, America took a giant step away from the world of slavery that said so much about this country in the late 19th century. The election of a president of mixed ethnicity was a watershed moment in the history of this great union.

At the same time, the passing of Proposition 102 in Arizona and Proposition 8 in California represents a giant step backwards to an era when Americans discriminated against people simply because they were "different." Constitutional amendments and other laws defining marriage as being only between one man and one woman are a gross infringement on the rights of individual citizens of this country. Like the miscegenation laws of a bygone era when African-Americans and whites were not permitted to marry each other, the passing of an amendment that limits individuals to wed denies a fundamental right.

But just as Raphall defended slavery in 1861, so too have Jewish clergy given their public support to these propositions. The Orthodox Rabbinical Council of Greater Phoenix formally endorsed Proposition 102, stating: "We recognize that all persons share equally in the dignity of human nature and are entitled to have that human dignity protected, but this does not justify the creation of a new definition for a term whose traditional meaning is of critical importance to the furtherance of a fundamental societal interest."

The statement further says: "A unique goal of marriage, which is reproduction and the raising of families, exists apart from that of same sex unions, which cannot equally participate in this essential function. ... (the) legal classification of such relationships as marriage dilutes the special standing of marriage between a man and a woman."

The ORC states that allowing gay marriage gets in the way of furthering a "societal interest." Are homosexuals not part of society? Are gays' interests inadmissible as societal interests? It states that people in a same-sex union cannot participate in reproduction and the raising of families. Are there not enough children in the world waiting for adoption? What about surrogacy? Finally, the ORC's statement asserts that marriage between a man and a woman will lose its "special standing" if the definition of marriage is to include same-sex marriages. What can this mean? The specialness of marriage does not come from whether or not homosexuals can marry - it comes from the love and care and shared responsibility that two people commit to. This is something that can be attained regardless of one's sexual orientation.

The religious case for Proposition 102 is, in at least one way, similar to that offered in defense of slavery - it is an attempt to hold on to a part of our tradition whose time has passed. Just as we now recognize that slavery was a blot on human history that must be eradicated wherever it is found, so too the biblically based prejudice against homosexuality must be consigned to its place on the shelf of religious antiques.

Now, following our recent presidential elections, as the winds of change begin to blow, we must make one final push to emancipate those who are discriminated against and excluded from the fundamental right of marriage simply because of their sexual orientation. We must not make the same mistake again.