Religious Left

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...

Maybe you've heard the story of Matthew Shepard, the unwilling martyr of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Nine years ago this month, Shepard, a college freshman in Laramie, Wyo., was pistol-whipped, robbed and tied to a fencepost along a Wyoming back road. Savagely beaten and barely alive, Shepard died five days later as a result of severe head trauma. Although Shepard's murder was a clear example of homophobia-driven violence, local law enforcement in Laramie lacked the funds to prosecute the a ttack as a hate crime, furloughing five officers to cover the costs of the case. Had Shepard been killed as a result of his race or religion, the Laramie law enforcement could have requested federal assistance in prosecuting his murder as a hate crime. As it was, such federal intervention was not an option. Why? The answer is both simple and simply maddening: Crimes committed as a result of victim's sexual orientation, no matter how brutal, are ineligible for f...