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12 Orthodox Judaism Reflection Points Orthodox Judaism received its earliest formulation in Hungary which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire in the first quarter of the 19th century, and in Germany in the middle of the century. In both countries traditionalists were profoundly critical of the efforts of Reform Jews to adapt halakhah to modern society as well as modify the traditional synagogue service. These reformers argued that such alterations were a precondition for Jewish emancipation as well as civil equality. Such an attitude was viewed by traditionalists as a violation of God’s will. At the end of the nineteenth century, Eastern European Orthodox leaders similarly championed Torah Judaism in the face of increased secularization. Today, the vast majority of Orthodox Jews reside in Israel or the United States. In Israel religiously observant Jews make up about 15-20 per cent of the Jewish population. These traditionalists, who were once marginal to Israeli society, play an increasingly important role in communal and political life. Within their ranks the Edah Haredit (community of the pious) consist of several thousand families with thousands of sympathizers. These are the most intransigent of the Orthodox. They relate to the state of Israel with varying degrees of hostility. A more moderate neo-traditionalism is found in Israeli Agudah circles. There the heads of the yeshivot and a number of Hasidic rebbeyim are dominant. In the United States, traditionalists have been supportive of their own institutions. With the exception of pockets of neotraditional extremists like the Edah Haredit in Israel, American Orthodox Jews are generally familiar with modern culture and most are willing to work with the non-Orthodox on behalf of general Jewish interests. In assessing the nature of Orthodox Judaism, you should ask yourself whether such traditionalism is vital for Jewish existence. Is it the strictly Orthodox who are the true inheritors of the Jewish past? Or, should this group be perceived simply as one among many branches of the faith? Over the last two hundred years the strictly Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews have been deeply divided about their interpretations of Jewish existence. Today this conflict is as intense as ever. Is there any possibility of reconciliation? Or, should one simply accept that there is no way that rival claims can be reconciled? Action Points Go to Google. Type in such terms as ‘strictly Orthodox’, ‘Orthodox Judaism’, ‘Modern Orthodox Judaism’ and ‘Haredim’. Look for websites that provide a picture of the Orthodox interpretation of Judaism. Go to Amazon.com. Look for books dealing with Orthodoxy. If possible, attend a service at an Orthodox synagogue. 13 Hasidism Reflection Points In the eighteenth century, Hasidism emerged as a challenge to the rabbinic establishment. Founded by the Baal Shem Tov, this pietistic movement stressed the importance of eliminating selfhood and the ascent of the soul to the divine light. Unlike the arid scholasticism of traditional Judaism, Hasidism offered to the Jewish masses a new outlet for religious fervour. According to tradition, the Baal Shem Tov (Israel ben Eleazer) was born in Southern Poland and in his twenties journeyed with his wife to the Carpathian mountains. In the 1730s he travelled to Mezibozh where he performed various miracles and instructed his disciples in kabbalistic lore. By the 1740s he had attracted a considerable number of disciples in kabbalistic lore; subsequently they passed on his teaching. After his death in 1760, Dov Baer became the leader of this sect and Hasidism spread to other parts of Eastern Europe. Hasidism initiated a profound change in Jewish religious pietism. In the medieval period, the Hasidei Ashkenaz attempted to achieve perfection through various mystical activities. This tradition was carried on by Lurianic kabbalists who engaged in various forms of self-mortification. In opposition to such ascetic practices, the Baal Shem Tov and his followers emphasized the omnipresence of God. For Hasidic Judaism, there is no place where God is absent. As the Baal Shem Tov explained, in every one of a person’s troubles, physical and spiritual, even in that trouble God himself is present. A central feature of this new movement was the institution of the zaddik which gave expression to a widespread disillusionment with rabbinic leadership. According to Hasidism, the zaddikim are spiritual superior individuals who have attained the highest level of cleaving to God. The goal of the zaddik is to elevate the souls of his flock to the divine light. His tasks included pleading to God for his people, immersing himself in their everyday affairs, and counselling and strengthening them. Today, Hasidism has been a powerful force in Jewish life around the world. In Israel and the United States in particular, the various branches of Hasidism play and important role in the Jewish community. What do you make of this movement? Like the strictly Orthodox, Hasidic Jews adhere to the tradition, maintaining that only the Torah observant can live a truly authentic Jewish existence. Do you agree? And what do you make of the institution of the zaddik (or rebbe)? In an increasingly secularized world, is there a place for such charismatic religious leaders? Action Points Go to Google. Type in such terms as ‘Hasidism’, ‘zaddik’, ‘Hasidic Judaism’. Look for websites which describe the nature of Hasidism, as well as others put on the web by the Hasidim themselves. Go to Amazon.com. Look for books dealing with Hasidic Judaism. If you live in a city where there are Hasidim, find out where they reside and go see them for yourself. 14 Conservative Judaism Reflection Points Conservative Judaism emerged out of the Reform movement as a reaction against its radical tendencies. In 1845 Zacharias Frankel broke ranks with other reformers, and subsequently became head of the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau. In the United States, a number of like-minded adherents of the positive-historical approach to Judaism established the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York which was later headed by the Cambridge scholar Solomon Schechter. As Conservative Judaism expanded in the 1920s and 1930s, a degree of uniformity was instituted within the movement, yet there was a general reluctance on the part of most thinkers to enunciate a comprehensive philosophy. Yet, as time passed there was an attempt to invest authority in official committees empowered with the responsibility to determine the central principles of Conservative Judaism. Like Reform Judaism, the Conservative movement has distanced itself from the traditional understanding of divine revelation. The Torah is perceived as a composite work containing various strands of tradition, dating from different periods in the history of ancient Israel. As a result, there is considerable uncertainty about the status of both Jewish belief and observance. Some traditionalists assert that Scriptural and rabbinic law remains authoritative. Others press for halakhic change. The same lack of consensus is found in the sphere of halakhic interpretation. In general, Conservative Jews accept that the halakhah has a pivotal role to play in the modern world. Yet within the movement there are widely discrepant patterns of observance. What do you make of such a lack of uniformity of belief and practice? Unlike Orthodoxy with its all-embracing belief system and code of law, Conservative Judaism offers a more flexible approach to the tradition. Torah observant Jews argue, however, that the central weakness of Conservatism is its lack of consistency and internal disharmony over the fundamentals of the faith. Do you agree? Or, do you think that such openness is in fact its greatest strength in providing a means whereby modern Jews can adapt their heritage to contemporary circumstances? Action Points Go to Google. Type in 'Conservative Judaism' and look for websites about Conservative Judaism as well as official websites of the movement. Go to Amazon.com. Look for books dealing with Conservative Judaism If possible, attend a service at a Conservative and Orthodox synagogue and compare the two experiences. 15 Reconstructionist Judaism Reflection Points According to Mordecai Kaplan, Judaism must divest itself of supernatural belief. The spiritual dimension of the faith must be reformulated in humanistic and naturalistic terms. For Kaplan, God is not a supernatural being but the power that makes for salvation. God, he wrote, is the sum of all the animating organizing forces and relationships which are forever making a cosmos out of chaos. In his view, the idea of God must be understood fundamentally in terms of its effect. In Kaplan’s view, God is a ‘trans-natural’, ‘super-factual’ and ‘super-experiential’ transcendence which does not infringe on the law of nature. Such a notion was far removed from the biblical and rabbinic concept of God as the creator and sustainer of the universe who chose the Jewish people and guides humanity to its final destiny. Many of the ideas found in Kaplan’s writings were reflected in the movement’s religious literature. The New Haggadah for Passover, for example, applied Kaplan’s theology to liturgical texts, subordinating miracles and plagues in the traditional Haggadah to the narrative of Israel’s redemption from Egypt. The Sabbath Prayer Book was designed for those who were dissatisfied with synagogue worship — its aim was to arouse emotion by eliminating theologically untenable passages and adding inspirational material drawn from tradition. This new prayer book deleted all references to the revelation of the Torah on Mount Sinai, the chosenness of Israel, and the doctrine of a personal Messiah. In the 1940s and 1950s, the leaders of Reconstructionist Judaism insisted that they were not attempting to form a new branch of Judaism. Throughout this period Reconstructionists hoped to be able to infuse the three major groups within North American Judaism (Orthodoxy, Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism) with its ideas. However, by the end of the 1960s the Reconstructionist movement had become a denomination — it had established a seminary to train Reconstructionist rabbis and instituted a congregational structure. Regarding halakhah, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association issued a statement of its 1980 convention that placed authority in the Jewish people (as opposed to the rabbis) and created a process whereby each congregation would be free to evolve its own customs. As you can see, Reconstructionism offers a radical option to those Jews who can no longer accept the existence of a personal Deity. For Kaplan and his followers, Judaism should be understood as an evolving civilization. What is critical is the desire to maintain the central features of the Jewish heritage despite such a non-theistic approach. What do you make of this movement? Unlike previous subgroups that emerged in the history of the Jewish nation, Reconstructionist Judaism has rejected the basic theological beliefs of the tradition that we surveyed in Chapter 1. In your view is the rejection of supernaturalism a fatal flaw? Or do you think such a modernist reformulation of Judaism is a legitimate interpretation of the Jewish tradition? Is Reconstructionist Judaism an acceptable formulation of the Jewish religion, or is it a heresy? Action Points Go to Google. Type in ‘Reconstructionist Judaism’. Look for websites that deal with Reconstructionism. Go to Amazon.com. Look for books dealing with this new movement including Judaism as a Civilization. If possible, attend a Reconstructionst service. Try to speak to members of the synagogue about their beliefs. 16 Reform Judaism (2) Reflection Points As we have seen, at the end of the eighteenth century advocates of the Jewish enlightenment such as Moses Mendelssohn encouraged fellow Jews to integrate into the mainstream of western European culture. Subsequently, early reformers attempted to reform Jewish education by widening the traditional curriculum of Jewish schools. Preeminent among these figures was Israel Jacobson who founded a boarding school for boys in Westphalia and subsequently established other schools throughout the kingdom. In these new foundations general subjects were taught by Christian teachers while a Jewish instructor gave lessons about Judaism. Simultaneously, a number of Reform Temples were opened in Germany in which innovations were made to the liturgy including prayers and sermons in German as well as choral singing and organ music. The central aim of these early reformers was to adapt Jewish worship to contemporary aesthetic standards. For these innovators, the informality of the traditional service seemed foreign and undignified; therefore, they insisted on greater decorum, more unison in prayer, a choir, hymns and music responses as well as alterations in prayers and the length of the service. In response to these and other developments, Orthodoxy asserted that any changes to the tradition were a violation of the Jewish heritage. For these traditionalists the Written and Oral Torah constitute an infallible chain of divinely revealed truths. From the 19th century to the present day, Orthodox Jews have championed the tradition, asserting that Reform Judaism is a fundamental distortion of the faith. In response, reformers insist that the Jewish tradition has always undergone fundamental change, and that this process is a healthy development. In their view, modern Jews should discard those elements of the tradition which are no longer spiritually significant. In their view, the modernizing of Judaism is necessary if Judaism is to survive. Do you agree? Or, are you persuaded by Orthodox critics that Reform Judaism has mistakenly abandoned the central tenets of the Jewish heritage and discarded the fundamental legal dimensions of Judaism? Action Points Go to Google. Type in ‘Reform Judaism’, ‘Central Conference of American Rabbis’, ‘Union of American Hebrew Congregations’. Look for websites that describe the nature of Reform Judaism as well as websites sponsored by Reform organizations. Go to Amazon.com. Look for books dealing with the history and nature of Reform Judaism. Don’t forget to look for books critical of the movement. If possible, attend services at Reform and Orthodox synagogues and compare the experience. 17 Humanistic Judaism Reflection Points In Judaism Beyond God, the founder of Humanistic Judaism, Sherwin Wine, offered a critique of the different religious movements within the Jewish community. Modern Orthodoxy, Conservatism, Reconstructionism, and Reform are, in his view, the ‘ambivalents’. Although these groups endorse the secular revolution in their everyday activities, they have one foot in the world of faith and the other in that of reason. However, since these two spheres are incompatible, such a stance is incoherent. Ambivalents, Wine asserted, are experts in avoiding actuality—they seek to avoid any form of painful confrontation. Unable to disown either faith or reason, they attempt to combine the humility of prayer with the dignity of personal freedom. Unlike the mainstream religious movements, Humanistic Judaism rejects the authority of the Biblical and rabbinic tradition. It is also distinct from Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism in jettisoning theistic language. Such a shift in perspective is due to the influence of science, capitalism and secular culture which have dramatically transformed Jewish life. As proponents of a secular Jewish life-style, Humanistic Jews believe in the power and beauty of human potential, the necessity of reason, the right of each person to satisfy his needs, and the goal of the unity of humankind. Humanistic Judaism constitutes a decisive departure from the Jewish past, designed for those unable to subscribe to a belief in a supernatural Deity but who nonetheless desire to identify as Jews. No doubt it will appeal to individuals for whom secular humanism provides an ideological framework for the improvement of modern life. Yet you need to consider whether such an ideology makes sense in the light of the events of the last century. It is difficult to sustain confidence in human progress. If anything, the suffering brought about by two World Wars, the dropping of the atomic bomb, and the subsequent series of conflicts over the last five decades illustrate the basic inhumanity of men and women. Action Points Go to Google. Look for websites dealing with Humanistic Judaism, particularly those sponsored by the movement. Go to Amazon.com. Look for books dealing with Humanistic Judaism. A good starting point are the writings of Sherwin Wine. 18 Jewish Buddhists Reflection Points As we have seen, Jewish Buddhists seek to combine the Jewish heritage with the spiritual insights of the Buddhist tradition. The first instance of an American Jew being converted to Buddhism in the United States occurred at the 1883 exposition on world religion. The convert, Charles Strauss, stated that he was a Buddhist at a public lecture that followed the World Conference on Religions in the same year. After World War II there was an increasing interest in Buddhism among Jews associated with the Beat generation. At that time Zen Buddhism was the most widely known form of the Buddhist tradition. In the 1960s more Jews became interested in Buddhist teachings. Robert Kamenetz’s The Jew in the Lotus outlines a new spiritual path for Jews. On the surface it appears that the beliefs and rituals of Judaism and Buddhism could not be more different. Yet, Jubus (Jewish Buddhists) argue that an immersion into Buddhism can serve to help Jews to discover their Jewish roots. The Jewish history of persecution and displacement, for example, is echoed by the treatment of Tibetan Buddhists at the hands of the Chinese. Both Moses and the Buddha had life-changing experiences that caused them to flee the royal court. Both wandered — Buddha as a yoga practitioner and Moses as a shepherd. There is also a similarity between the tree of knowledge in Genesis and the bodhi tree under which the Buddha was first enlightened. Jubus further point out that both traditions encourage questioning and debate. Surveying this new development, you should ask yourself whether the differences between Buddhism and Judaism are so great as to prevent any true synthesis. Obviously the most conspicuous difference concerns belief in God. While Judaism is the foundation of monotheism, Buddhists do not espouse belief in a supernatural Deity. Is such a fundamental difference sufficient to invalidate the approach of contemporary Jewish Buddhists? Or, are Jubus correct in believing that they can live an authentic Jewish life by integrating the spiritual insights of the Buddhist tradition into their religious experience. Action Points Go to Amazon.com. Look for books dealing with Jubus, in particular The Jew in the Lotus. Go to Google. Look for websites hosted by Jubus themselves. 19 Messianic Judaism Reflection Points The Messianic movement emerged out of the insights of leading Hebrew Christians who sought to remain loyal to the Jewish tradition while incorporating Yeshua into their lives. In contrast with early forms of Hebrew Christianity, Messianic Judaism affirms its links with the followers of Yeshua. By accepting Yeshua, Messianic Jews believe that they are fulfilled Jews. Such leaders as Martin Chernoff fostered the conception of living as a Jew by acknowledging Yeshua as the Messiah. The growth of this new movement has caused considerable consternation within the Jewish community. In some cases direct action has been taken against the Messianic community by Jewish critics of the movement. While deploring such tactics, officials within the Jewish community generally regard Messianic Judaism as a pernicious influence. In the view of many, it is simply impossible for Jews who believe in Jesus to remain members of the faith. As Rabbi March H. Tanenbaum, national inter-religious director of the American Jewish Committee, stated: ‘While humanely one might emphathize with Messianic Jews who wish nostalgically to retain some cultural linkages with the Jewish people — whether for guilt or other emotional reasons — in point of fact, re-enacting Jewish rituals of the Sabbath, the Passover, the Bar Mitzvah, without commitment to the convictions they symbolize soon make a mockery of their sacred meanings.’ In surveying the origins and growth of Messianic Judaism, you should ask yourself whether you agree with these Jewish critics. Is Messianic Judaism essentially a modern form of Christianity? Is it deceptive to describe this movement as a form of Judaism when its followers accept the messiahship of Jesus? Responding to their critics, Messianic Jews insist that they are loyal to the Jewish heritage and do not seek to identify with Christianity. In their view, Messianic Judaism is the legitimate heir of biblical Judaism. What do you make of such a claim? Action Points Go to Google. Look for websites dealing with Messianic Judaism. You should look for websites sponsored by the movement, as well as websites of their critics. Go to Amazon.com. Look for books dealing with Messianic Judaism written by Messianic Jews themselves as well as by scholars outside the movement. A good starting point is: Richard Harvey, Mapping Messianic Jewish Theology: A Constructive Approach, Paternoster, 2009. 20 Jewish Renewal Reflection Points Jewish Renewal began in the early 1960s under the leadership of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Initially called B’nai Or (Sons of the Children of Light), the movement was conceived as a community responsible for the preservation of Hasidic teachings which could be used as the basis for the creation of a new form of spirituality. Although it attracted Jews from a wide range of backgrounds including Reform and Conservative Judaism, B’nai Or was ritually observant. One of the features of earlier B’nai Or was a rainbowcoloured prayer shawl developed by Reb Zalman in response to a vision he had had. The colour, width and arrangement of each stripe related to a seven lower sefirot in the kabbalistic tradition (as well as the seven days of the week). Even though women belonged to B’nai Or at the outset, it changed its name to P’nai Or (Faces of Light) in 1985 to indicate its inclusive character. Since 1993, the movement has been known as ALEPH (the Alliance for Jewish Renewal) and serves as a network of affiliated groups based in North America which sponsors the Shalom Center and the Jewish Renewal Life Centre. In its early days B’nai Or combined traditional and contemporary Torah study and prayer with various Hasidic practices such as storytelling and solitary prayer in the woods. As a consequence, it was regarded as Hasidic in nature. Later, it has become increasingly syncretistic and has absorbed the spirituality of other faiths. In addition, it has absorbed the insights of modern psychology and philosophy — as such it has incorporated elements from Sufism, Buddhism and North American religion. Assessing the development of this new spiritual movement, you should consider whether such syncretistic tendencies have diluted the Jewish tradition? Or conversely, has Jewish Renewal in fact revitalized the faith for contemporary Jews? Action Points Go to Google. Look for websites dealing with Jewish Renewal. Go to Amazon.com. Search for books dealing with this new movement. 21 Jewish Kabbalists Reflection Points The fundamentals of the medieval kabbalistic system were expanded by such luminaries as Moses Cordovero, Isaac Luria, the Baal Shem Tov and others. In the modern period, interest in kabbalistic thought outside Hasidism was promoted by Jews associated with the Jewish counterculture. A number of those who belonged to this circle were poets and artists. Although all the streams of Jewish counterculture were interested in Jewish mysticism, the counterculture kabbalists reclaimed magical, heretical and heterodox traditions. This approach is illustrated in Jerome Rothenberg’s anthology, A Big Jewish Book, and in David Meltzer’s kabbalistic journal Tree. Meltzer also published Tree books in which he made available the work of various Jewish poets. His magazine also included texts on Jewish mysticism, including the writings of Abraham Abulafia. Meltzer and his followers were particularly fascinated by Jewish letter mysticism, Jewish letter permutations and the golem. Jewish mystical traditions were also linked to certain trends in contemporary American poetry as in Hirschman’s Black Alpha. Such a counterculture marked the beginning of popular interest in kabbalah as evidenced by Rabbi Herbert Wiener’s 9 ½ Mystics which depicts the quest for an authentic form of Jewish mysticism. Other books by Charles Ponce and Perle Epstein similarly provided popular, non-academic introductions to kabbalah for a wide audience. In the 1980s and 1990s such an interest in kabbalistic ideas intensified. In the 1990s kabbalistic centres sprang up throughout the United States. As we have seen, Rab Berg’s Kabbalah Centre has become increasingly important through the involvement of celebrities such as Madonna. Another central focus of pop kabbalah has been the magical use of kabbalah, and its association with astrology, palm reading, and face reading. Other exponents of kabbalistic techniques explore the connection between Judaism and spiritual practices including yoga. Surveying these developments, you should ask yourself whether the kabbalistic tradition makes sense given the secular and scientific world view that pervades modern life. Action Points Go to Google. Look for various websites that deal with contemporary kabbalah. Go to Amazon.com. Search for books dealing with contemporary kabbalah, such as the writings of Rav Berg and his sons. 22 Jewish Feminism Reflection Points Through the activities of their movement, Jewish feminists have gained increasing support. Innovations, such as baby-naming ceremonies, feminist Passover seders, and ritual celebrations of the New Moon have been introduced into communal settings in the home or synagogue. These ceremonies have been aimed at the community rather than the individual. In this way Jewish feminists have sought to enhance women’s religious roles in Jewish life. The concept of egalitarianism has evoked a positive response from many quarters. In the Reform movement, the principle of equality between the sexes has become a cardinal principle. Similarly, within the Reconstructionist movement women have gained equal status. The Conservative movement has also accepted the principle of equality. Even though the Conservative movement led the way for Jewish feminism in the 1970s and 1980s, Jewish feminism was interpreted in different ways in the4 Orthodox community. In 1981, Blu Greenberg made a case for Orthodox feminism in On Being a Jewish Feminist. Alongside this work, a small number of Orthodox feminists established women’s tefilah (prayer) groups that respected halakhic restraints on the role of women in Jewish life. Even though the Orthodox leadership deny feminist claims of the secondary status of women within traditional Judaism, Jewish feminism has had an important impact on American Orthodoxy. Girls are provided with a more comprehensive education in Orthodox schools, and Orthodoxy has embraced such rituals as celebrations of the birth of a daughter and bat mitzvah rites. In support of feminist principles, Blu Greenberg founded the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance in 1997 to advocate for women’s increased participation in modern Orthodoxy and to create a community for women and men dedicated to principles of equality. In its mission statement, the movement declared that its aim is to expand the spiritual, ritual, intellectual and political opportunities for women within the framework of halakhah. Surveying the development of Jewish feminism, you should ask yourself whether the arguments put forward by Jewish feminists are valid. Is Judaism inherently sexist? Is it true that women have been relegated to a secondary position within the tradition? Action Points Go to Google. Search for websites dealing with Jewish feminism. You will find a wide range of material from various religious groupings. Also look for websites that are critical of the activities of Jewish feminists. Go to Amazon.com. Look for books dealing with Jewish feminism. 23 Jewish Vegetarianism and Ecology Reflection Points Judaism forbids the infliction of unnecessary pain and suffering. The principle of tsaar baalei hayyim (preventing the suffering of living creatures) is extolled in biblical and rabbinic sources. Although this principle is not explicitly formulated in Scripture, it is based on biblical teaching concerning the compassionate treatment of God’s creatures. Such an attitude shows an early appreciation of the sentiency of other creatures, and according to the rabbis, Israel was unique among the nations in advocating this approach. On this assumption, rabbinic codes of law enshrine the principle of tsaar baalei hayyim as an important feature of the faith. Specifically the rabbis continued to formulate law concerning Sabbaths and Festivals. For example, rabbinic legislation stipulates that animals — like human beings — should be allowed to move about wearing bandages and splints for their wounds, and that cushions should be supplied if needed. Further, one is allowed to put salve and oil on an animal’s wound and seek assistance of a gentile if milking is required. Again, it is permitted to put an animal in cold water so as to cool it off as a remedy for congestion, or raise it out of a body of water into which it has fallen. As we have seen, this tradition of concern about animals has persuaded an increasing number of Jews to become vegetarians. As an extension of the concern with animal welfare, many Jewish vegetarians also focus on the significance of numerous environmental problems including acid rain, the green house effect, ozone layer depletion, erosion of topsoil, destruction of forests and other habitats, pollution of water and soil, and toxic waste. Pondering the growth of Jewish vegetarianism and ecological concern, you should consider the validity of the arguments put forward by these advocates. Given Judaism’s attitude to animal welfare, is vegetarianism the ideal? Do Jews have a responsibility to the planet as Jewish ecologists assert? If so, what should be done about environmental issues? Action Points Go to Google. Look for websites that deal with Jewish vegetarianism and ecology. Go to Amazon.com. Search for books dealing with both of these subjects. 24 Gay and Lesbian Jews Reflection Points There is no doubt that traditional Judaism regarded homosexuality as an abhorrence. As we have seen, two verses in Leviticus state the position unequivocally: ‘And you shall not cohabit with a male as one cohabits with a woman; it is an abomination.’ (Lev. 18:22), and ‘If a man cohabits with a male as with a woman, both of them shall have done an abominable thing. They shall be put to death.’ (Lev. 20:13). Today defenders of gay rights argue that such biblical teaching should be put into context. Scripture was written long ago, they maintain, by those with little understanding of human psychology. As a consequence, the condemnation of homosexuality in the Bible should be regarded as a vestige of the past which should now be set aside given our increased awareness of the nature of human sexuality. In modern times, there has been a fundamental change in attitude within the non-Orthodox branches of Judaism. The Reform movement, for example, has adopted a positive acceptance of gays and lesbians. Such liberalism is now perceived as a moral principle: any manifestation of homophobia is condemned. Today, gay and lesbian rabbis conduct services for synagogues whose membership is composed of practising homosexuals. Such a step forward has enabled many Jews who felt ostracized by the Jewish community to express their loyalty to the tradition. Within Conservative Jewish circles a similar acceptance of homosexuality has been adopted. Beyond the confines of these religious bodies, the World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Jews has championed gay rights. This world-wide body seeks to strengthen Jews who previously been perceived as outsiders. Their goals include fostering a sense of community among diverse individuals and organizations and to achieve equality and security for its members. What do you make of this development? Given the fierce condemnation in the past of homosexual practices, have these Jews betrayed the tradition? Or, do you think Judaism must adopt a more progressive attitude toward sexuality in the light of modern insights into human behaviour? Action Points Go to Google. Look for websites dealing with homosexuality and lesbianism within the Jewish community. Go to Amazon.com and search for books dealing with Jewish sex laws, and gay and lesbian Jews.