The Civil Riots in Israel Are a Warning to Prevent a Dark Future
Our decision-makers should ask themselves some hard questions regarding the critical issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Police arrest a protester at a demonstration organized by the Standing Together Movement, which calls Arabs and Jews to unite, and demands the end of attacks on both Israel and Gaza, on May 15, 2021, in Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo by Daniel Rolider/Getty Images)
Following Operation Guardian of the Walls and the gruesome fights between Arabs and Jews in our cities, the common wisdom in Israel today calls for
heshbon nefesh, soul searching, in Hebrew. Indeed, our decision-makers should ask themselves some hard questions, first and foremost about the policy – or the lack thereof – regarding the critical issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They will have to explain why they turned their back to the Palestinian Authority, relegating to it the marginal role of keeping the West Bank quie
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Introduction
The impetus for the document that you are about to read was a scene from Rabbi Mordechai Vardi’s unsettling documentary “Marry Me However,” a film that tells the stories of Orthodox gay men and lesbian women who entered marriages to opposite-sex partners in an attempt to live in accordance with Jewish law and be accepted by their religious families and communities. In that scene, Rabbi Yuval Cherlow remarks that “we [rabbis] know how to say no, but we can’t cite an article or viewpoint that says what is permitted.”
Rabbi Cherlow’s reference to our lack of a “yes” regarding same-sex partnerships touched me deeply, because I knew how right he is. For almost 30 years, I have been in contact with LGBTQ+ people and have counseled them and their families. The term that best describes the way the Orthodox community deals with the reality that surrounds us is “confusion.” Few parents want to tear their clothes in mourning and cut off ties with their child