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| LGBTQ student activists protesting YU (Commentator) |
The evidence is pretty substantial that people who have these issues cannot change. Regardless of how they got that way. People that are attracted to members of the same sex cannot be blamed or criticized for that. If they are Orthodox Jews and want to be part of a an observant community, they should be warmly welcomed as members. As I have said what seems to be a multitude of times, people should be judged on the content of their character (to partially quote the late MLK) and not on who they are attracted to.
The same is true for people who are transgender. If someone is born one sex and believes they are really a member of the opposite sex, one needs to have compassion for such individuals and not judge them. I know it is difficult if not impossible for the rest of us to understand why transgender people feel that way. But I also know that this is not a matter of choice. They just believe they are members of the opposite sex and cannot understand why they weren’t born that way.
Why they feel that way is beyond my pay grade. But I am convinced that there are people like that who are very moral and ethical. And if they are Jewish, that they believe in God and are devout Orthodox Jews in every sense of the word. If there is any doubt, please check out what Rabbi Efrem Goldberg said about it.
The same is of course true of Orthodox homosexual Jews. They too are often moral and ethical and can be devoutly observant.
No one in the LGBT community wants to be in a predicament that invites ridicule and ostracism. Which is why some are still in the closet about it. If - in the case of homosexuals - they could magically change and become heterosexual they would do so in a heartbeat. In the case of transgender people if they could learn to be comfortable in the gender in which they were born, they would do so in a heartbeat, too. in both cases forcing them to try and change usually ends up in tragedy.
These are views I have expressed before. Many times. I have also expressed the view that the behavior that gay people might resort to is considered a capital crime by the Torah. And that changing one’s sex is forbidden under Torah law. So my support for the LGBTQ community is limited to tolerance, acceptance and love. Not celebration. This is where I part company with LGBTQ activists.
In the case of homosexuals, LGBTQ activists want to not only be accepted for who they are, they want their lifestyle to be accepted too. A lifestyle that is conducive to sexual activity that the Torah expressly forbids and condemns. That cannot and should not be tolerated - let alone celebrated.
Not that we should be peeking into their bedrooms. But to celebrate a lifestyle that is conducive to behavior that the Torah considers a capital crime is tantamount to violating another Torah precept: Lifnei Iveir Lo Sitein Michshol - Do not put a stumbling block before a blind person. Celebrating a gay does exactly that.
The same thing is true about transgender people. We cannot do anything that would encourage them to change their sex. We can sympathize and understand. But encouraging someone to dress in a manner the Torah clearly forbids or worse, to undergo sex reassignment surgery is something that must be avoided and certainly not celebrated.
I mention all this because of what Yeshiva University (YU) as recently done. They have created a policy on this issue that expresses precisely these views. From the YU Commentator:
Among the newly announced policies, the university plans to update its “diversity, inclusion and sensitivity training” to focus on “diverse student groups, including sexual orientation and gender identity.” Administrators will receive initial training in the coming semester, and one for faculty, staff and students will be developed. The Counseling Center will also ensure that its staff includes a clinician with “specific LGBTQ+ experience.” Additionally, a “warm line” will be created in the coming semester for YU students to discuss or report concerns about “non-inclusive” harassment or bullying.
“This is a highly charged, highly emotional subject,” President Berman said in a statement sent to The Commentator. “We are the bearers of a 3000 year old Torah tradition. Our LGBTQ+ students are our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, family and friends. At the heart of our Jewish values is love - love for God and love for each of His children.”
The committee’s statement was undersigned by Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yaakov Neuberger, Azrieli School of Education Dean Dr. Rona Novick, Director of the Counseling Center Dr. Yael Muskat and Azrieli Psychology and Jewish Education Chair Dr. David Pelcovitz, all of whom were assembled by former Senior Vice President Josh Joseph last year to form a committee, at the request of President Ari Berman, to “address matters of inclusion on our undergraduate college campuses, including LGBTQ+.”
The committee explained that, while the Torah is “accepting [of] each individual with love and affirming its timeless prescriptions,” the requested LGBTQ club “under the auspices of YU will cloud [the Torah’s] nuanced message.”
I am very happy to see that YU’s Roshei Yeshiva signed on to this policy. It is the right thing to do. I am equally happy that they will not allow LGBTQ under their auspices. We should never sacrifice Torah law on the alter of political correctness.
Although the LGBTQ community appreciates the sensitivity shown by YU, they are not happy about this. They want to have it all. And have asked YU to explain exactly what ‘Halachic nuances’ they are concerned about. They added that the establishment of these clubs is a matter of Pikuach Nefesh (life and death).
I know the suicide rate among LGBTQ people is high. That should certainly factor into any decisions made by an institution guided by Torah law. But I simply do not buy that the lack of a LGBTQ club on YU auspices is the only or even the best way to counteract that possibility. The best way to do that is with therapists trained to deal with these issues.
It is true that clubs lend an air of brotherhood and camaraderie between people with shared desires, experiences, and goals. It is true that this can help defray the feeling of societal rejection that can lead to depression and suicide. But that does not mean that we should ignore the Torah’s admonition against the stumbling blocks that these clubs would likely be - in front of people that can so easily trip over them.
By way of imperfect allegory, if you had a friend that desperately wanted to have sex with your spouse – and added that if you don’t let them it, they would commit suicide (and you knew they meant it) should you let them – even if your spouse was willing?!
This is the dilemma YU faces and why they are right to proceed in this way. If only all Yeshivos were sensitive to LGBTQ people and followed YU’s lead, I think a lot of lives could be saved.