Dozens of Orthodox rabbis and educators have signed a statement of principles on the “place of Jews with a homosexual orientation in our community” that seeks to emphasize the dignity and respect such individuals are due as human beings and as Jews.

The original draft was prepared by Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and over the past six months has been garnering the signatures of rabbis and educators in the US, including members of the Rabbinical Council of America and Yeshiva University.

Signatories from Israel include Efrat’s Rabbi Shlomo Riskin; Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of Petah Tikvah’s Hesder Yeshiva; Rabbi David Bigman, head of Yeshivat Hakibbutz Hadati; and Rabbi Seth Farber of the NGO ITIM.

Stressing from the outset that “demeaning someone with a homosexual orientation or same-sex attraction is a violation of Torah prohibitions,” the 12-clause document, available at statementofprinciplesnya.blogspot.com, proceeds to address potential run-in points between homosexuality and halachic adherence.

It says, for example, that heterosexual marriage is “the ideal model and sole legitimate outlet for human sexual expression,” without the “sensitivity and understanding we properly express for human beings with other sexual orientations” diminishing from that principle.

The document also declares the “religious right of those with a homosexual orientation to reject therapeutic approaches [encouraging a change in orientation] they reasonably see as useless or dangerous,” and later emphasizes that “Jews with homosexual orientations or same sex-attractions should be welcomed as full members of the synagogue and school community.”

Read the full article at the Jerusalem Post...