The Cornell American
Oy Gay! A Queer Orthodox Rabbi?
Biblical exegesis takes back seat to dirty stories.
By: Archil Pitimashvili on December 2nd, 2005 at 2:47 PM
A month or so ago, as I was walking through Rockefeller Hall, I noticed a flier about an Orthodox gay rabbi, Steven Greenberg, who was coming to speak at Cornell. First, I laughed. “Gay Orthodox Rabbi,” I thought, “Is this a joke?” It took me a few minutes to realize that everything is possible on the premises of these nine square miles surrounded by reality.
Curious, I decided to go to Mr. Greenberg’s November 16 lecture. And for those of you who already think that I am up to something, I do admit it: I was prejudiced from the very beginning against this “rabbi”. As a person familiar with the Jewish tradition and the Old Testament, it is hard for me to take seriously a person who claims to be a gay Orthodox Rabbi. However, I decided to go to the lecture and listen to the “rabbi’s” case and see if his arguments could convince me. I was wrong, and I wasted my time.
The Webster Dictionary defines the word Orthodox in the context of Judaism as a “conforming to or characteristic of Orthodox Judaism.” Orthodox Jews are known to interpret very strictly the verses of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, there are several places where homosexual acts are explicitly forbidden. Leviticus 18:22 explicitly commands “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” The story of Sodom and Gomorra is one of the most famous passages of the Old Testament that portrays homosexual activity as a sin.
There are no other obvious interpretations to these passages, which should be even more lucid for Orthodox Jews. While parts of the Old Testament are somewhat vague, these passages are very clear in the message that they convey. For an Orthodox Jew, it is impossible to interpret these verses of the Jewish sacred texts in any other way. So what was Mr. Greenberg’s new insight that justified homosexual behavior? What was his response to these Biblical verses?
Well, he had no clear response. Mr. Greenberg made several vague statements and tried to logically connect them, a task at which he utterly failed. He said that the Leviticus verses made him suffer greatly. Then he said that the verses do not forbid homosexuality but rather the humiliation associated in our society with sexual intercourse and especially homosexual intercourse.
While the most sacred value of the Orthodox Jews is the literal interpretation of the text, Mr. Greenberg twisted and distorted the text as he pleased. He even acknowledged that he is an outcast in the Orthodox community and is banned from many Orthodox institutions.
Though there was very little Old Testament exegesis in the lecture, the “rabbi” did talk about many other issues that, in his opinion, are important to the Jewish faith. He proudly informed the audience of the erections he would get in his all-male Jewish school whenever he would hear the showers. Most disturbingly, when he tried leaning on a table that kept sliding, he moved the table, sat on it again provocatively, and said with a twinkle in his eye, “I like it better this way!” Thank you, Mr. Greenberg, for showing us all just how you like to take it.
Mr. Greenberg is not a rabbi. A rabbi in the Jewish faith is a wise person familiar with the Jewish texts who can provide very useful advice and guidance. Mr. Greenberg? He showed a very shallow familiarity with the Old Testament and told many personal stories about his homosexual experiences. That’s about it.
The Old Testament is sacred book for the Jews, and especially for Orthodox Jews. Mr. Greenberg calls himself an Orthodox rabbi and continually violates its content. It is ridiculous, but he has the right to do and say as he wishes. He has the right to be homosexual, a proud homosexual, and he even has the right to call himself a gay Orthodox Rabbi (even if almost no one recognizes him as one).
What I really want to know is who honestly believed this man had any valid opinion regarding the Jewish faith. Believe it or not, telling homosexual erection stories does not make someone an expert on Orthodox Judaism.
At one point during the lecture, as Mr. Greenberg looked outside the classroom door and got distracted by something. He wondered aloud, “What are they teaching at Cornell these days?” Indeed, Mr. Greenberg, what are they teaching at Cornell these days?