{"id":45474,"date":"2018-12-10T22:37:21","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T20:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=45474"},"modified":"2022-07-05T08:56:16","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T05:56:16","slug":"caught-in-the-undertow-of-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/caught-in-the-undertow-of-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Caught In The Undertow Of Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[450,374,436],"acf":{"old_id":"45474","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":45475,"related_cahpter":"108","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"As a gay man, I do not copy the practices of the Egyptians or the land of Canaan","content":"

New ideas and modes of thinking project us into the future; traditions and heritage connect us to the past. Modern readers of Tanakh and contemporary practitioners of religion are often caught between these opposing forces – pressed forward by waves of new thinking and ideology only to feel the undertow of tradition at their feet.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a practicing Jew and a gay man, I feel that Leviticus 18 presents just this problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leviticus 18 opens with God speaking: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws.<\/span>
\n<\/span>My rules alone shall you observe\u2026<\/span>
\n<\/span>You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And by what laws and rules shall man live? The God of Tanakh proceeds to list the many sexual sins deemed impermissible; acts practiced within other societies but not to be practiced within a biblically-mandated one. This list famously includes a prohibition on homosexuality that has for millenia – and across many societies – led to oppression and suppression of sexual minorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

I have struggled with this verse. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish world, I struggled to live by its proscription. My own thinking, however, has evolved to put more faith in the wisdom of modern humanity than the wisdom of every ancient verse.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a gay Jew, I have learned to trust in the goodness and righteousness of a society that accepts sexual minorities – that celebrates L, G, B, T, \u00a0and Q. To me, this is law. I do not copy the practices of the Egyptians or the land of Canaan. I derive from first principles that this must be good. My own set of values. By these rules shall man live.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the very least, Leviticus 18 represents the tension between the ancient and the modern. This tension has been felt by many readers of Leviticus – readers of a wide range of beliefs and observance. When we engage in a study of Tanakh we read a rich, beautiful text that has helped shape Jewish tradition and culture. At the same time, many readers may find their values diverge sharply from those described by Tanakh.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we study Tanakh and feel this tension we occupy a space that appreciates the value of the tradition – of the ancient – yet we affirm the values humanity has brought to the modern world in which we live.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":106179,"id":106179,"title":"-62c3d26fde2a2--62c3d26fde2a3lev18-lgbtq.jpg","filename":"62c3d26fde2a2-62c3d26fde2a3lev18-lgbtq.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/62c3d26fde2a2-62c3d26fde2a3lev18-lgbtq.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/caught-in-the-undertow-of-tradition\/62c3d26fde2a2-62c3d26fde2a3lev18-lgbtq-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"62c3d26fde2a2-62c3d26fde2a3lev18-lgbtq-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":45474,"date":"2022-07-05 05:55:59","modified":"2022-07-05 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