Posted on 12/01/2006 1:19:24 PM PST by Risha
Rabbis Reconsider Gay Sex
A panel of 25 Conservative rabbis is meeting next week in New York to discuss whether homosexual sex is permitted under Jewish law.
The discussion will center around five proposed teshuvot, or answers, to questions regarding homosexuality.
Two answers reportedly uphold the traditional position from the Bible: "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination which prohibits homosexuality between men and, by extension, between women.
But the other three answers argue for a reinterpretation of that prohibition, and "on a practical level, they could open the way for Conservative rabbis to perform same-sex commitment ceremonies and for Conservative seminaries to ordain openly gay rabbis, the Washington Post reports.
The Conservative movement has about 2 million members worldwide, and occupies a position between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. Advance word is that the panel the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards will approve conflicting answers. Thats possible because the votes of just 6 of the 25 panel members are required to declare an answer valid.
In any case, whatever decision the panel reaches will be only advisory, according to the Post. In the Conservative movement, each rabbi can decide which point of view to follow in his or her synagogue.
But the panels decision will be important for the future of the Conservative movement, which has seen its numbers dwindle in the U.S. in recent decades.
Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, told the Post that the "movement as a while will be able to say that it is in the center and, more important, that there is more than one way to be a Jew . . .
"The Democratic Party did pretty well with that big-tent strategy in this past election, and my sense is there is a lesson there for a centrist movement that is struggling to appeal to younger people.
Leviticus is extremely specific about this crime.
Or are you just anti-Catholic? Any stick to beat a dog, I guess.
How typically bigoted.
Yes. With all of its crypto-Nazi crap from Buchanan, Novak and Roberts, Newsmax sometimes looks much like WorldNutDaily, although WND presents more secular and Catholic Jewish writers to make Judaism look bad.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
----------------------------
Simultaneously.
"This kind of hurts, dude."
I can hardly wait to see the tortured logic used to reinterpret this bit of Scripture.
"It says 'Do not lie with a man,' so if they do it standing up, it's OK!" < /vhs>
true. only Torah-observant Jews have survived more than 3 generations.
FYI to all Freepers. CONSERVATIVE "RABBI's" ARE NOT RABBI"S AT ALL AND DO NOT REPRESENT JUDIASM AT ALL.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
it's not that we are in violation, it is that we are presently unable to fulfill many mitzvos in the Torah.
We still fulfill several hundred of the 613. One day, we will again fulfill the rest.
Torah Jews are still obligated to intensely study the laws of sacrifices and the Sanhedrin etc.... even though it has benn almost 2000 years. many tractate'so of the Talmud deal with these.
certain mitzvos are only applicable in the land of Israel, so some mitzvos and laws have become relevant again since the early 20th century when Jews started repopulating Israel again. Although the commandments have always been required here, they were barely applicable since so few Jews lived here for 2000 years.
Rabbis Reconsider Gay Sex
No thanks.
Q: What do you get when you cross a Unitarian with a Jehova's Witness?
A: Someone who rings your doorbell for no apparent reason.
This cannot be serious. Have these rabbis ever bothered to read the Old Testament?
Crikes, you beat me to it!!!!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
He was detailing the ancient history of Lake Wobegone and mentioned that the first non-natives to visit the area were Unitarian missionaries who attempted to convert the indians through interpretive dance.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
After the Temple was destroyed, the physical sacrifices were substituted by the order of prayer, repentance and giving of charity. Every prayer is concluded with a plea to rebuild the Temple so that the commanded sacrifices can be resumed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.