The Parade Root
17 bMarHeshvan 5767 Wed. night
I just returned to Netanya from the three-hour Supreme Court session on the proposed Homosexual Parade scheduled for Friday (19 Heshvan). The three justices were inclined to insist that the parade take place in the quiet Hebrew University/Knesset area (rather than downtown), but the decision of Jerusalem Police chief Ilan Franko was critical. He said that by calling up an unprecedented number of police, a whopping 9,000, the police could handle it. That is even more than were called up for the Disengagement! That was at 8:30 pm when the session ended. But as we walked outside the Court, there was new information about events related to the morning’s IDF incursion into Gaza and Franko seemed to think that the parade would have to be postponed. So as of my writing (midnight Israel time) the parade is postponed.
An opinion piece I wrote against the “Gay Pride Parade” appears in the Jerusalem Post today, Nov.8. It’s not the parade route that is the problem; rather the parade’s roots go back to Supreme and local Israeli court decisions in the past dozen years, all favoring homosexual activity and liasons. I point out that…
OURS IS not the first legal system to begin legalizing same-sex relationships. Already in antediluvian times people were drawing up contracts between men and men, and men and animals. With deep psychological insight the Midrash points out that God did not regret his Creation even when, in the era of Noah, homosexuality and bestiality took place. He did not bring the Flood upon the world because homosexual couples conducted parades. Rather, the last straw was when they drew up contracts conferring the veneer of normality on aberrant behavior.
The Midrash rabba observes: “The generation of the Flood was not blotted out from the world until they wrote marriage deeds for males and males, and males and beasts, thus fully legalizing such practices.”
In my Jerusalem Post article I quote Rav Aharon Feldman’s essay from March 24,1998 which is on the internet in the “Jerusalem letter” as “A letter to a homosexual baal teshuva.”
How does Judaism look at the reason for someone having been born or turned into a homosexual? Life is meant to be a set of challenges by which we continuously grow spiritually. Any physical defect curtails the enjoyment of life, but, on the other hand, meeting the challenge inherent in such a defect can be the greatest source of joy and accomplishment. Challenges are what life is all about, and homosexuality is one of these challenges.
Two years later R. Aharon Feldman wrote an additional clarification and letter.
A different viewpoint is presented by
R David Gottlieb on deconstructing the myths about homosexual behavior.
A few days ago, Ellen Horowitz wrote an op ed essay that appeared in the Jerusalem Post, “When Tolerance if Tyranny,”
This isn’t about minority rights or freedoms of expression and assembly. It is about the deliberate trampling of the religious and moral sensitivities of the people of Jerusalem, and of those who hold that physical intimacy and sexual expression should be sacred and private. In addition, some of us who are spiritually sensitive are concerned that a nation which fails to secure its internal and personal boundaries will have little chance of defending its external borders.
The problem of political correctness (including promotion of alternate lifestyles) and its dangers is pervasive in Israel, America and elsewhere. Recently, a book was published by a University M.D. detailing this and titled UNPROTECTED
A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student
Back to the High Court of Justice (Bagatz) session this evening: they heard several appeals that had been filed against the police for going ahead with the parade and creating a danger. Rav Simha Kook spoke first about Jerusalem, the center of our people and of the world, and about the generation of Noah and its unacceptable behavior. MK and Minister Eli Yishai of Shas spoke movingly. Yehuda Meshi Zahav, Baruch Marzel, and BenGvir had filed appeals of their own, and the judges Dorit Beinisch, Ayala Procaccia, and Eliezer Rivlin gave them each generous amounts of time in which to present their cases. The Court room was full; half were young people from the homosexual and lesbian “Jerusalem Open House”, and half were religious and haredi people.
At the end I did keriya, with a tear in my eye and a tear in my collar over the sad situation where the judges of the state of Israel have sunk to this nadir.
I will start off by advising that we be clear about the purpose of the homosexual paraders—at least the leadership—as revealed by their choices of venue. The first international “world pride” parade took place in the year 2000 in Rome (see here for a particularly militant piece of coverage on that one.) The next international homosexual parade is of course now scheduled for Jerusalem….
Jerusalem and Rome–the two centers of meaning, morality, and spiritual direction for Western civilization. The two centers from which the principles of acceptable and forbidden relationships were broadcast first to a nation, and then to many nations, and then to the West, and now to all humanity. The two centers whose teachings to humanity enabled the desexualization of family and society, and thereby unleashed human progress forward. The centers of what is now acknowledged, after so many centuries, as the Judeo-Christian ethic that made the West the leaders and the envy of the world. It is these two centers, and these ideas that are now seen as enemies, and therefore as targets. It is the colonialism (and I believe the rage) of the paraders-their intent to slap these principles, and their adherents, directly in the face—that is now targeted on Jerusalem.
It is after all only Jerusalem that ever enabled Rome to become a center of any manner of moral teaching. Jerusalem is the rarely-discussed foundation upon which the structure and mindset of the West is built. In 2000 in Rome the paraders attacked the hands. In 2006 in Jerusalem they’re aiming for the heart. The marchers have chosen their targets well.
So before we talk about the response: Let us be very clear about what the issues here are.
You can’t have your cake and eat it. You can’t demand that the Supreme Court desist from imposing politically correct values and then turn around and demand that it impose our own perhaps politically incorrect values. Hopefully, the post Barak court will be less activist than its predecessor and will focus on narrow issues, in this case whether the technical requirements of a parade license were met. This is what we demand of the court generally, and we can’t expect more now.
The Supreme Court responds to issues that are brought before it. If the parade issue could be resolved politically or by way of dialogue (as some Rabbonim attempted to do via the offices of Nir Barakat) the Supreme Court would not be a player. The purpose of the Court should not be to establish norms but to protect the legal rights of those who fell discriminated against, usually minorities of one sort or another. By defending unpopular minorities, the Court opens itself to attack. Although I disagreed with the general direction of the Barak Court, I believe that it took a great deal of civic courage to deliver unpopular decisions, especially on security and religious matters.
When was the last time a Rav took an unpopular position in the community? I am particularly distressed that the latest declaration signed by Rav Elyashiv and Rav Yosef and others did not demand that protest be peaceful. These Rabbis must be aware of the situation on the ground and I have no doubt that they are opposed to violence in every fiber of their being. Nonetheless, they are unable to speak directly against violence because that would not be politically correct from their point of view. If we had leaders with Barak’s courage to make tough decisions, the whole situation would be different.
I live in Jerusalem and see the burning garbage and stone throwing. Make no mistake: there is a carnival atmosphere –an atmosphere of prikat ol and holelut — on the streets of our community that matches the carnival the the gays are trying to perpetrate. After a while, people who focus so much on their enemies start to look like them.
I accept the Court’s refusal to be swayed by threats of violence. If the violent members of our community win the day, we insiders will be the first to suffer; remember, most acts of violence take place in the family and between people who know each other.
Naftali,
Rav Eliyashiv’s car was stoned a few years back when he paskened (very unpopularly in some cirlces) that some k’varim could be moved for a new road. They take upopular positions all the time, if that is waht they think the emes is. Have you never heard of Drash Moshe being burned by kanoyim? Please be carefull in how you speak about rabbanim.
If the Jerusalem Post’s reporting is accurate there’s considerable disagreement amongst the Gedolim as to how to react to this event:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1162378356679&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Nice, level-headed post Naftali. Unfortunately, you may already be suffering in very concrete way and the zealots may now be liable for more than just generating enormous Sinas Chinam. See the article below:
From Jpost: Experts warn haredim they’re poisoning families
Haredi hotheads who are burning plastic garbage bins to protest Friday’s Gay Pride Parade are poisoning themselves and their families, according to environmental health experts who say burned plastic releases “thousands” of dangerous chemicals, The Jerusalem Post has learned…
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1162378356688&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
My guess is that this will unfortunately set a precedent as to “acceptable” responses to issues that certain groups of people disagree with. After all, it worked. IMHO, this is NOT the Orthodox (or even Chareidi) way, but the methods of fundamentalist radicals. The absence of any unified mentchlach protest or rally will also likely repeat itself.
“Please be carefull in how you speak about rabbanim”
Keeping in mind Kavod Hatorah is essential and crucial.
I am happy that a compromise was reached between the parade and the religious community. I also have quoted R Elyashiv and Roshei Yeshivah from Kol Torah who said that these violent methods of rioting and demonstrating(burning trash, and throwing stones) are not the way of our Torah.
But the larger issue of dealing with extremists needs to be dealt with. Blaming the police(there is plenty to do in that area), or saying that Rabbonim can’t control the fringes is avoiding the problem. Eventually the charedi community will need to look it in the eye and not hide from it.
What can be done if there are Kannoim who don’t listen? I think the answer needs to come from the grass-roots tzibbur. Most people know that bans and kol kores have “askonim” working behind the scenes. So to with riots, there needs to be a groundswell of disgust for such behavior before change can take place.
If all religious communities could come together, then Gedolim will see that the tzibbur will not tolerate such actions, and more forceful proclamtions will be able to be issued by Gedolim. The Kannoim will see this as well and they will stop their behavior.
I also hope that the mashgiach of the Yeshiva whose three students were caught on international press photos throwing stones will take responsibility for the chilul Hashem and strongly ostracize such behavior.
Baruch,
I agree with you. How about bright signs saying “We are very deeply pained by cars driving on Shabbat, we are very deeply pained by toeivah in the Holy City, but we are most deeply pained by deliquints throwing rocks!”
Kudos to Mrs. Schmidt for setting forth the motives and agenda of the directors behind the now-cancelled parade and to R Baruch for his sagacious comments, as always, on the dynamics within the Charedi world.
If kannoim create problems for the Gedolim, the latter need their own security detail. Life in the Wild East!
“At the end I did keriya, with a tear in my eye and a tear in my collar over the sad situation where the judges of the state of Israel have sunk to this nadir.”
Why is this mutar – was this something that a rav told you was acceptable to do?
even to tear more than necessary for the death of a parent is considered bal tashchis. for chinuch, one may be over bal taschis to rebuke, but I believe some say only with things that are already broken (or in this case torn) and other issurim (eg chavala and onaa) are waived for chinuch. I don’t think that applies to adults.
Is there a heter for public tochacha?
see also this post and the comment section
http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2006/09/convert-in-mourning.html
the author responded to me personally that the psak she received was that one can tear kriya in this circumstance.