As homosexuality is being more and more accepted in the community these days, there are still some groups that do not accept homosexuals because of the culture of the group. One of the groups that do not condone to homosexual acts would be the Jews. So the main question of the issue would be can jews be gay or not.
Now one thing to understand would be that Judaism does not have anything against homosexuals. What they do not condone to would be homosexual acts which means the erotic acts that a person will do with another of the same sex. In other words, there can be homosexuals but they cannot act upon their homosexual urges as it is the acts that are considered as sins in the faces of the Rabbis.
Of course before anyone would make any comment on this, one would first have to take a look as to what the basis of this teaching is. Of course the first place to look would be the Bible and the verse that teaches this is found in Leviticus chapter eight. Now if one would read it, he will find a verse that says that a man cannot lie with another man otherwise it is a sin.
Now while there is no actual explanation as to why God made this commandment, many Rabbis did have their own interpretations. The most common one would be that when God created the world, he only created man and woman. So naturally, homosexuality is something that is unnatural to creation.
Of course this was just a statement that was created by the Rabbis which meant that there was no actual basis. So it was from there that Bar Kaparrah created his own interpretation in Talmud. He stated that there is another law in the Torah wherein marriage and procreation are very important and that homosexuality goes against procreation.
Basically, the Torah strictly states that a man cannot be with another man as this is an abomination. So this might strike a question as to how they treat lesbians. Since the Torah only mentioned the union and sexual acts between two men, then most people would assume that lesbianism is allowed.
Now Judaism does not condone to homosexuality as a whole so this includes both gays and lesbians. Of course for the lesbian couples, they would also use the Talmud interpretation wherein procreation is a must. However, since lesbianism is not explicitly mentioned in the Torah, they are not as strict.
So the answer to the question based on the interpretations of this issue is that yes one can be a gay Jew. Since the Rabbis do realize that most gays are born that way, they do not condemn the people. They do however, condemn the act of homosexuality because it goes against the laws of their belief. So if one is gay or lesbian and is a Jew, he or she will not be condemned by the group but he or she must also not do any homosexual acts otherwise he or she will have committed a grave sin.
Now one thing to understand would be that Judaism does not have anything against homosexuals. What they do not condone to would be homosexual acts which means the erotic acts that a person will do with another of the same sex. In other words, there can be homosexuals but they cannot act upon their homosexual urges as it is the acts that are considered as sins in the faces of the Rabbis.
Of course before anyone would make any comment on this, one would first have to take a look as to what the basis of this teaching is. Of course the first place to look would be the Bible and the verse that teaches this is found in Leviticus chapter eight. Now if one would read it, he will find a verse that says that a man cannot lie with another man otherwise it is a sin.
Now while there is no actual explanation as to why God made this commandment, many Rabbis did have their own interpretations. The most common one would be that when God created the world, he only created man and woman. So naturally, homosexuality is something that is unnatural to creation.
Of course this was just a statement that was created by the Rabbis which meant that there was no actual basis. So it was from there that Bar Kaparrah created his own interpretation in Talmud. He stated that there is another law in the Torah wherein marriage and procreation are very important and that homosexuality goes against procreation.
Basically, the Torah strictly states that a man cannot be with another man as this is an abomination. So this might strike a question as to how they treat lesbians. Since the Torah only mentioned the union and sexual acts between two men, then most people would assume that lesbianism is allowed.
Now Judaism does not condone to homosexuality as a whole so this includes both gays and lesbians. Of course for the lesbian couples, they would also use the Talmud interpretation wherein procreation is a must. However, since lesbianism is not explicitly mentioned in the Torah, they are not as strict.
So the answer to the question based on the interpretations of this issue is that yes one can be a gay Jew. Since the Rabbis do realize that most gays are born that way, they do not condemn the people. They do however, condemn the act of homosexuality because it goes against the laws of their belief. So if one is gay or lesbian and is a Jew, he or she will not be condemned by the group but he or she must also not do any homosexual acts otherwise he or she will have committed a grave sin.
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