Why supporting Orthodox gay Jews to become advocates, without providing high level Torah learning, will end with YCT ceding authority on LGT issues to those same advocates.
This will be my final post on YCT, at least for a while. They have undertaken a monumental challenge in working to advance LGT tolerance and acceptance in the Orthodox community, and I wish them the best of luck. I hope that my last post was clear in articulating what the fundamental challenge for advancing the Orthodox LGT discussion is- namely educating Torah scholars and Rabbis. I think, as do others, that having Orthodox gay Rabbis is so crucial because Orthodox gay Rabbis can participate in conversations of communal tolerance/acceptance as well as halachic conversations through their experience as a gay person but also their role in upholding Orthodox halacha.
The question remains- is supporting individuals to come out and speak up Orthodox LGT issues a path forward for YCT to contribute and participate in the conversation or does it cause, intentionally or not, YCT to cede its authority on these issues to others?
Orthodox individuals who come out and speak up about Orthodox LGT issues will have enormous leverage to define many ideas and boundaries of the Orthodox LGT conversation. Advocates will have free reign to define what constitutes inclusion and acceptance within Orthodox Judaism, and importantly, anything less will be “discriminatory or homophobic bigotry”.
Orthodox LGT individuals will inevitably seek guidance and models of effective advocacy from someone. If YCT is not actively engaged in the conversation in a guiding capacity, Orthodox LGT Jewish advocates will turn to secular LGBTQ+ advocates to help define what are and what are not acceptable definitions of tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion.
It is very likely that Orthodox LGT advocates will develop definitions that are beyond the pale for Orthodox Judaism. For example, Kiddushin (Jewish marriage) does not make conceptual sense for two men within Orthodox halacha. But if Orthodox LGT advocates determine that kiddushin must be amended to include two men and that those who are against same-sex kiddushin are homophobic- where does that leave YCT, and Orthodoxy in general, in the conversation? By empowering individuals, separate and apart from involvement in YCT’s Torah learning, to define what tolerance/acceptance/inclusion is- YCT will be held to standards and definitions they did not co-create.
Such a scenario leaves Orthodox LGT advocates, who may be without intimate familiarity with Orthodox halacha, limited in their ability to be sensitive to the halachic system’s possibilities for increased inclusion as well as its limits. It also leaves YCT and accepting Orthodox Rabbis at the mercy of definitions of tolerance/acceptance/inclusion that are beyond, or potentially antagonistic towards, the standards of Orthodox halacha. The result will be a further divide between advocates and YCT/Orthodox Judaism, one where YCT is again defending their actions from accusations of homophobia.
And this is the “ceding of authority” I am afraid YCT is unwittingly engaging in. Rather than working with Orthodox LGT people- through providing high level Torah education- to define the limits and possibilities of halacha’s inclusion of LGT Jews within Orthodox life, YCT will have given that position and authority to Orthodox LGT advocates themselves.
DatiHomo 