Kedoshim, the Torah Portion

Gay Rights and Torah Too

The name of the Torah portion Kedoshim is from the root Kof Dalet Shin, those three letters, meaning holy.  God wants us to strive for holiness, as best we can, because God is all about holiness.  This root is ubiquitous and central in Judaism, and interesting also beyond Judaism

In the annual rotation of Torah portions, Kedoshim comes in the spring, at the midway point of the year.  Kedoshim also makes a special appearance, in whole or part, on Yom Kippur afternoon, in the fall.

This Torah portion is quite noteworthy because it has a high concentration of inspiring verses for social or economic justice.  Nevertheless, Kedoshim has some problematic verses as well.  Right in proximity to each other, the beautiful and the challenging. 

Many  verses in this Torah portion  have a wisdom that has stood the test of time. We are instructed:  Keep honest weights and measures.  Do not hold a worker's wages overnight.  Leave the corners of your fields for the poor.  Do not curse the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind.  Do not stand idly by your neighbor's blood.  Do not carry a grudge.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  These verses all have an enduring wisdom for living, for good conduct in society.

But right in proximity to these inspiring verses, contrasting, as I see it, are some problematic verses.  In particular, verses that order the death penalty for "the man who lieth with mankind," and for the practitioner of witchcraft.  These verse have a track record of abuse, historically and currently.  

Historically, when alleged witches were burned or hung, Scripture quoting was part of the rhetoric.  Today in Brazil, where native tribes are being uprooted from the rain forests,  Scripture quoting, about witchcraft, is part of the rhetoric.  

When gay people are victimized, Scripture is often quoted.  Verses from Leviticus, Deuteronomy, as well as the New Testament's verse that "the wages of sin are death," are recurrent quotes in the attempt to negate the rights of lesbians, gays and bisexuals.  Jewish people are sometimes involved in this, but the leading perpetrators in the U.S. are fundamentalist Christians. The practitioners of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have options, choices to make,  for how to and how not to relate to gay people. 

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people.  It is ours to embrace, hopefully with thoughtfulness and discernment.  Everything in Judaism is not suitable to go into practice today.   

Judaism is a big aglommerate, moving through the centuries, adding to itself, acquiring disparate elements.  As Jews, all of it is our heritage,  with Torah being very special because it contains our ancient stories, our ancient laws.  Some of it is beautiful, some mysterious, and some of it is problematic.  Parashat Kedoshim has been called a microcosm of Judaism for its mixture of the inspirational and the challenging both.

In her writing, Reconstructing Rabbi Rebecca Alpert has described several ways to disempower the Scriptural prohibitions of homosexuality from their potential for abuse.  These include supplying historical context, giving a contrasting verse greater priority, sometimes retranslating, and sometimes just being angry at a verse and recognizing the validity of that feeling.  

I have witnessed all of these methods applied, either simply or elaborately, by rabbis and lay people, in Tucson and online, by gay people and by allies.  I have seen over the decades how the Reform movement has supported LGBT rights through activism, words and deeds.  I have also seen our spiritual leaders focusing more on the positive than on the problematic, and I appreciate all of this.

The contents of the Torah never changes, but Torah is a living Torah.  About the Torah, we sing "aitz chayim he," she is a tree of life, not petrified wood.  Torah is living because of how we process it, because of what we bring to it.