Religious Left

by Kilian Melloy EDGE, Boston In contrast to previous years, Ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders have decided that they will not protest this year’s Pride Parade in Jerusalem, scheduled for June 26. Said Jerusalem Open House Executive Director Yonatan Gher, "We have met with many public leaders of the haredi and Orthodox communities to promote understanding and especially to prevent unnecessary violence in the city." But even as Pride organizers and their conservative religious opponents managed to make overtures toward quelling further violence, the country’s politicians sought to ban the parade through legislative means. While the Ultra-orthodox say they intend to stay away from the parade and not to mount protests, the politicians have said that they will step into the gap, with plans to gather in ten places around Jerusalem on June 26 to demonstrate in protest of the Pride event. full article

From eating figs and reciting psalms as his Rabbi suggested, to biting his tongue every time he felt attracted to a man, David tried to change. But after twenty years of trying, David realized that he couldn’t. “I don’t want to be less Jewish because I’m gay,” said the man on the screen. He was one of the dozen gay and lesbian Orthodox and Hasidic Jews featured in the 2001 documentary “Trembling Before G-d,” shown Tuesday night as one of Sex Week’s numerous events to portray different aspects of sexuality. A discussion led by Northwestern Rabbi Josh Feigelson and campus minister Reverend Julie Windsor Mitchell followed the documentary. Hillel, University Christian Ministry, NUCOR, Rainbow Alliance and A&O Films co-sponsored. In the candid discussion that followed the screening, Feigelson and Mitchell shared their thoughts on the documentary from their perspective as religious leaders. Mitchell said she was struck by “this choice that so many people felt that they were faced with in...

TORONTO — Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, was in Toronto last week to discuss the conflict between homosexuality and Judaism and to offer a “poetic” way to interpret the biblical texts that are understood to condemn same-sex relationships. Before delving into the different ways the verse in Leviticus – which states: “a man shall not lie with another man as with a woman; it is an abomination” – can be interpreted, Rabbi Greenberg shared his story about his introduction to Orthodoxy. While in school, he found himself attracted to a fellow yeshiva student. Struggling internally with his feelings, he sought the advice of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, a posek in Jerusalem, one of the most respected arbiters of Jewish law in Israel. Rabbi Greenberg, who hadn’t had any physical relationships with women at that point, said to him, “I’m attracted to both men and women. What should I do?” Rabbi Eliashiv responded, “You have twice the power of love. Use it careful...