AJN Letters: Responses to Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz – March 30 2012

30 Mar 2012
The Australian Jewish News Melbourne edition

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Method not message is wrong on bullying

I FOUND the parallel that letter writer Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz (AJN 23/03) made between opposing the specific homophobia anti-bullying program being promoted by Safe Schools Victoria to “tacitly encouraging the vilification of others” (i.e. homosexuals) to be obscene in the extreme.

Even the biggest critics of this antibullying program were abundantly clear about their opposition to homophobic bullying.

It is the methodology of the specific program in question that has justifiably drawn criticism from some rabbis and concerned members of the community. Entering into a discussion about samesex marriage with kindergarten children, as this program would have us do, is plainly and simply inappropriate.

Moreover, Mr Meyerowit-Katz believes that those rabbis who are opposed to the implementation of this program are adhering to a “medieval idea of morality” and that should they persist in this mentality, they will “only continue to stand there scratching their heads as shul attendance continues to plummet”.

With the deepest of respect, falling shul attendance has nil to do with rabbinic attitudes to current issues and everything to do with the increasing secularisation of our community whereby communal prayer is no longer appealing.

YONASAN KABLINSKI
Caulfield North, Vic


A morality tale for boosting attendance

WE should all be grateful to Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz (AJN 23/03).

He bemoans what he perceives to be the persecution of homosexuals, and then proceeds to offer us the panacea for declining synagogue attendances.

“In advocating that Jews adhere to a medieval idea of morality” he writes, “certain members of the Orthodox rabbinate are tragically out of step with the modern world. Should this mentality persist, they will only continue to stand there scratching their heads as shul attendances continue to plummet”.

So, to be clear, his message is that promoting and practising immorality is the way to get those “bums on seats” in our congregations?

By the way, I think he is also historically inaccurate in implying that homosexuality is a new phenomenon of this modern world that those rabbis are so “out of step” with. It was rampant in many civilisations such as ancient Greece and Sodom. So it is just as “medieval” a concept as morality. Go figure!

ROBERT WEIL
Caulfield North, Vic

Submission to Senate on Marriage Equality by Rabbinical Council of NSW

[Senate link] [PDF]

RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF NSW INC

All correspondence to
The Hon. Secretary

President:
Rabbi Yoram Ulman

Vice-President:
Rabbi Eli Feldman

Honorary Secretary:
Rabbi Chaim Ingram

Honorary Treasurer:
Rabbi Paul Lewin

31 March 2012

STATEMENT FROM THE RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF NSW ON SAME SEX MARRIAGE

To the Honorable Members of the Senate Legal and constitutional Affairs Committee:-

The Rabbinical Council of NSW represents all Orthodox and mainstream synagogues in NSW

The Rabbinical Council of NSW Inc (RCNSW) states and affirms as follows:-

1)      The definition of marriage as stipulated in the Marriage Legislation Amendment Act 2004, namely that “marriage means the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others” is consistent with the traditional definition of marriage expressed in sacred Jewish texts and accepted through the ages by the other major world faiths.

2)      At Mount Sinai, the giving of the Torah included reiteration of a set of key universal laws and values binding and adopted by civilised societies throughout the world since time immemorial.

3)      Central to the key universal values expressed in the Torah are norms relating to human sexuality which endorse the stable sexual union of a man and a woman in a socially recognised relationship of mutual commitment whilst rejecting other sexual unions notably adultery, incest, bestiality and homosexuality.

4)      It has been proven and demonstrated globally throughout history that the institution of marriage is central to the formation of a healthy society and to the concept of family.  By virtue of their physical make-up, human beings are able to achieve self –actualisation through participation in the higher union of man and woman within marriage resulting in the production of offspring who are raised in a stable and moral home and who possess an innate and close connection with the mother and father who conceived and gave birth to the child.

5)      The Torah mandates that all human beings, created as they are in the image of G-D, are to be cherished and loved by their fellows.  The lifestyle choices made by individuals do not affect the precept that they be treated with respect and love.  Nevertheless it is our firm conviction that all humankind remains bound by the aforementioned universal moral code handed down by G-D at Mount Sinai 3,300 years ago.

6)      The RCNSW views with profound concern efforts to redefine marriage and thus legally sanction same-sex marriage.  It urges most earnestly that the integrity of marriage in its traditional and time-hallowed form will be preserved.

For further information please call RCNSW Honorary Secretary Rabbi Chaim Ingram.

77 multi-faith clergy call for marriage equality | AME

77 multi-faith clergy call for marriage equality | AME.

Jewish rabbis supporting marriage equality include:

  1. Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky, Adelaide.
  2. Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins, Senior Rabbi, New South Wales.
  3. Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black, Victoria.
  4. Rabbi Paul Jacobson, New South Wales.
  5. Rabbi Jacki Ninio, New South Wales.