tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11016252.post2324913319574279698..comments2023-12-29T04:23:23.176-08:00Comments on Planet Israel: Editorial Review: Give gays the kosher stampEphraimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10336470494574974256noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11016252.post-76022722438450872292009-02-02T18:57:00.000-08:002009-02-02T18:57:00.000-08:00As a Jew I am fairly liberal and don't follow a lo...As a Jew I am fairly liberal and don't follow a lot of Talmud, but I agree completely that what is not kosher in Torah by G-d's definition cannot be made kosher. Homosexuality is and never will be less than an abomination Vayikra, 18:22.TheDoctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04556550915400922561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11016252.post-51436293474671376782008-02-22T08:59:00.000-08:002008-02-22T08:59:00.000-08:00Assaf Wohl misses the point about rabbinic Judaism...Assaf Wohl misses the point about rabbinic Judaism and Halakah: rabbinical rulings never change the Torah; to the contrary, they put a "fence," e.g, stricter rules around it to make it clear what is permitted and what is forbidden.<BR/><BR/>Therefore, a rabbinical ruling can never contravene the Torah. It can never make what is prohibited permissible. It cannot create a kosher stamp for treif foods and it cannot legitimate forbidden relationships such as adulterous or homosexual unions.<BR/><BR/>Divine law has an eternal permanence and lots of natural activity doesn't accord with G-d's intent but that doesn't confer moral status upon it. The larger point Wohl misses is that the Torah changed human history by saying man owes loyalty to more than just his base instincts and the cycles of nature and time. He can transcend his own animal nature and approach the divine spark G-d implanted in him at the time of the Creation.<BR/><BR/>By obeying G-d, the Jew shows man is capable of being holy - and acting holy. The point of Halakah is to elevate the Jew above the beasts and indeed above the nations. Sanctioning homosexuality would not do that and would thus contradict the intent and the idea behind the entire framework of Halakah.<BR/><BR/>A lot of Israel's elite harbor the idea Israel should become more like the nations. The Jewish view is the opposite: Israel is meant to be a light to world, to show it is possible for man to serve G-d rather than his own desires and the Torah speaks of a time when every nation will acknowledge Israel's leading role in diffusing the knowledge of G-d and his law upon the earth.<BR/><BR/>The homosexual issue is really a foil for the debate over Israel's place in the world and the secularists and Jews in Israel are as they were - two different nations in their view on it and it looks like that debate, which has been on-going since the birth of the Zionist movement and later, the establishment of the State Of Israel, won't be resolved anytime soon.NormanFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03365459073293643108noreply@blogger.com