Original Torah: Ancient Words in a Modern Light

Background: the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the Conservative movement’s version of the College of Cardinals, but not as transparent. Demonstrating its commitment to halachic innovation, the CJLS has created the new halachic category of “homosexual” out of whole cloth. In the spirit of the rabbis who extended the Torah’s “Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk” to prohibit eating, cooking, and deriving benefit from any mixture of meat and milk, the CJLS has taken an opaque biblical verse that chaza”l understood as banning a specific sex act between two men, and extended it to exclude anyone of either sex who identifies as “gay” or “lesbian” (with no actions necessary) from various communal roles. This is the part where Moses shows up to Rabbi Akiva’s classroom and says “What are you thinking???”

Benjamin said…

Stuff like this is why I left the Conservative movement. They lost touch with America in the 80s. You’d think that being considered just as heretical as Reform by the majority opinion of the majority of Orthodox communities would give them the freedom to decide things according to their own ethical standard, la plug.

I’ve read the homosexual majority responsum by R’ Roth and it’s bunk. It addresses wordplay and Freudian psychology but only shallowly wonders why the man on man sex in the Bible is considered with bestiality and idol worship. Perhaps the Torah wasn’t aware of loving monogomous relationships? Just maybe?

In any event, they advocated some pretty groundbreaking stuff in the 50s, talking about uprooting a law from the Torah and quoted those various examples. But now with a great opportunity to show they’re not bigots and they turn to joel roth to tell them gays don’t deserve equal footing in the Jewish community (but eaters of BLT’s, go ahead, Deuteronomy 14:3 )

February 28, 2006 5:18 PM

Benjamin said…

The other reason I left was because their rabbis and shuls don’t respect the law. A local Friday Night Live concert at a large Conservative synagogue involves a band, mixing board, electricity, microphones, electric instruments, and a cantor who can’t lead. Oh, and people dance and clap, which is prohibited in Mishnah Beitza which the Gemara explains as because people might dance and clap and tune their instruments. Go figure. Halakhic pluralism my foot. The shuls are in anarchy and the JTS ivory tower is too conservative, small c. Go read Tradition and Change by Waxman.

February 28, 2006 5:21 PM

Followup article: The New York Times gets framed and Count The Frames