Panel discusses reconciliation of being Jewish, gay or lesbian

In a religion as old and vested in tradition as Judaism, change
can seem to resemble glacial flow, especially when it comes to
something as religiously sensitive as homosexuality.

The issue of reconciling being Jewish with homosexuality was the
topic of a panel discussion following a screening of
“Trembling Before G-d,” a documentary about gay
Orthodox Jews, Wednesday night at De Neve Plaza. Each of the
panelists represented viewpoints that ran the gamut of orthodox to
reconstructionist.

The film by Sandi Dubowski shows Orthodox Jews who neither want
to reject their religion nor their sexuality. Some of those filmed
were virtually disowned by their parents, and others were advised
to be celibate rather than have homosexual relations.

The Orthodox ban on homosexuality derives from the Torah, mainly
the book of Leviticus.

“It says that a man should not lie with another man as he
does with a woman,” said Rabbi Mychal Rosenbaum-Copland,
associate director of Jewish Student Life at Hillel. “The
question from there goes to how one views and interprets
text.”

Indeed, this was the central debate.

“We are in a community that abides by its
teachings,” said Orthodox Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller,
director of Hillel. “It does say in the Bible that
homosexuality is an abomination. We always have to deal with that
no matter where you are.”

Orthodoxy represents less than a quarter of the Jewish
population in the United States. Conservative Rabbi J.B.
Sacks-Rosen, while still advocating strict adherence to tradition,
found the texts more liberating.

“In my reading of the text, I don’t see
homosexuality being condemned at all,” Sacks-Rosen said.
“In fact, it’s hard for me to think of what the
Biblical Hebrew word for “˜homosexuality’ is, because it
doesn’t exist.”

“If a heterosexual man shouldn’t lie with another
man, then maybe the corresponding law for a gay man is that he
shouldn’t lie with a woman as he would with a man,”
Sacks-Rosen added.

The “illness” model of homosexuality came in part
from a 1974 article by Rabbi Norman Lamm, which advocated
compassion for gays, since sexual orientation is not a choice.
While Seidler-Feller maintained the change from intolerance to
compassion was a large paradigm shift, Sacks-Rosen cited a more
progressive “scientific” model, backed by research by
the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric
Association, that recognizes a wide variation of human sexual
response which, he said, is normal.

“There really is no such thing as reparative therapy or
change therapy since there’s no need to change anyone,”
said Sacks-Rosen, who works at a synagogue in Corona, Calif.
“It’s a matter of a person discovering who they are and
living out the way they are made. Religion would say the way God
made them.”

Sacks-Rosen said he has had his life threatened by other Jews,
but he stays steadfast in his faith in Judaism.

This faith was echoed by Steven Greenberg, the first openly gay
orthodox Rabbi, who was featured in “Trembling.”

“It’s not Judaism if it’s not responsive to
the human condition,” Greenberg said.

Now there are branches of Judaism devoted to being responsive to
gays and lesbians. The Reform movement, of which the majority of
Jews are part, now accepts gay marriages. The Reconstructionist
movement, of which Rosenbaum-Copland ““ who is openly gay
and who brought her partner to the discussion ““ is a member,
embraces gays and lesbians, and urges people to take advantage of
gay and lesbian synagogues, of which there are two in L.A.

“Why can’t (homosexual Jews) leave the orthodox
community?” Rosenbaum-Copland said in a phone interview
Tuesday. “There’s so many places to go where
you’d be welcome in the Jewish community.”