Homosexuality, Missionaries, and Internet Porn

Ever notice that the Israel National News articles that seem to draw the most talkbacks are about homosexuality, missionaries, or Internet porn? I am not sure what that indicates about INN’s readership, but I’ve decided to tackle all three of these controversial subjects at once to see if I can establish a new Guinness world record.

World's Tallest Dog

Now I don’t mean to imply that all homosexuals are missionaries, or that all missionaries are homosexuals. If someone does happen to be a missionary and a homosexual, this is double bad news. But the opposite may be more like it. After all, the first missionary was a big womanizer. That’s why he was kicked out of yeshiva.

It is explained in the Talmud that the first missionary, the “Nazerethite,” was a student of Rabbi Yehushua ben Prachia, one of the great Sages of the time and leader of the Great Assembly. Traveling together on a journey, they stopped at a lodge on the way. After a lady innkeeper attended to their needs in a diligent fashion, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Prachia praised her for honoring Torah scholars in the appropriate manner. Pure and saintly as he was, he remarked in an innocent fashion, “How pleasant this innkeeper is.” The commentator Rashi explains this by stating, “In her deeds.” However, the “Nazerethite” jumped up and exclaimed, “But her eyes aren’t pretty!”

When Rabbi Yehoshua ben Prachia heard his student say this, he proclaimed, “Evil person! You are preoccupied with this!?” meaning looking at women. And he drove him away in the most severe manner, as the Talmud records, “He thrust the Nazerethite away with both hands” (Sotah, 47A).

In his lectures about the Mashiach at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook, of blessed memory, whose yahrtzeit is next week, explained that the Sages deliberately stated that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Prachia “thrust the Nazerethite away with both hands,” as opposed to pushing him away with the left hand and drawing him close with the right, in the usual educational manner.  Rabbi Yehoshua ben Prachia reacted in this emphatic way in thrusting the “Nazerethite” away to show that he was clearly not the Messiah.

See how far looking at women can cause a man to fall. Has there ever been a greater destroyer of Israel than this one? In the words of the Rambam:

“All of the Prophets spoke of the Messiah as the redeemer of Israel, and as its savior, who would gather their dispersed, and strengthen their observance of the commandments, while this one caused the annihilation of Israel by the sword, and caused their remnants to be scattered and scorned. He caused the Torah to be altered, and brought the majority of the world to err, and to worship a god other than the L-rd” (Rambam, Laws of Kings and Their Wars, 11:4, see the uncensored edition of Mossad HaRav Kook Publications).

With the distressing news that a new missionary center is being opened in Jerusalem, let this be your answer to anyone who tries to persuade you that the “Nazerethite” is the Messiah. If anyone tries, you have my permission to thrust him away with both hands.

What's Your Excuse?

Today, the seventh of Adar, is the yahrtzeit of Moshe Rabainu, may his memory be for a blessing. The greatest disappointment and tragedy of his life was in not being allowed to enter the Land of Israel. For over forty years, he strove with all of his heart, with all of his soul, and with all of his might to bring the Jews to Israel, but he himself was denied this unsurpassed privilege, honor, and reward. More than anything else in the world, he wanted to come to Israel. He begged G-d, over and over, hundreds of times, to allow him to enter Eretz Yisrael, to prostrate himself in its dust and perform the commandments unique to the Holy Land. “I don’t have to be the leader of the Jewish people,” he declared. “I don’t have to be their rabbi or king. Turn me into an ant if You want, and let me crawl into the Promised Land on all fours.”

What's your excuse?

Moshe was our teacher back then, and he is our teacher today. Can there be a clearer example of how we should relate to the mitzvah of living in Israel? Just as Moshe longed to dwell in the Land, so should we. Just as Moshe begged G-d to grant him this privilege, so should we. Just as Moshe wasn’t afraid of the heathens, and giants, and enemies in the Land, so we shouldn’t fear them today. Just as Moshe understood that Judaism without Eretz Yisrael cannot be complete, so should we. Just as Moshe understood that the Nation of Israel cannot fulfill its Divine calling in foreign lands so should we.  Just as Moshe understood that a Jew cannot be true to G-d and the Torah without being in the Land of the Torah, so should we. Just as Moshe understood that the harshest punishment in the world was to remain behind in exile, outside the Land of Israel, so should we. Just as Moshe was ready to give up all prestige and honor, in order to come to Eretz Yisrael, so should we.

May his memory be for a blessing.

Hope For Homosexuals

Question: I am 32. For several years I have been looking for a wife, but it never gets anywhere because I don’t feel any strong desire to be with women. I confided this to a friend, and he took me to a group meeting with men who have homosexual leanings, and who are learning to be proud of it. Apparently, this is my situation too. Is there anything I can do to strengthen my attraction to the opposite sex so that I will be able to marry?  

Answer:

(by Rabbi Elyakam Levanon, Rosh Yeshiva, Elon Moreh)

To begin, we must note that there is a desire for unnatural relationships. The Torah mentions three different types of sexual relationships. The first is between a man and woman, and this is limited to a relationship sanctified by marriage and the tenets of Jewish Law. The Torah also mentions the possibility of a man being with a beast and rejects this outright as being strictly forbidden. Our Sages teach that Bilaam polluted himself in this manner. The third relationship mentioned is between two men, which the Torah absolutely forbids. Because the prohibition is recorded, we can assume that there exists a desire for this type of connection. Nevertheless, the Torah does not allow any leniency in this matter whatsoever.       

For us, who strive to be faithful to the path of the Torah, this means that even though there may be a lust of this sort, we have the wherewithal to overcome it, just like with every other prohibition of the Torah. For instance, there is a prohibition of eating milk products and meat together. While a cheeseburger may be very tasty to the palette, we nevertheless overcome any desire we have for eating combinations of this nature. The Midrash teaches that we shouldn’t say, “I don’t have the possibility of eating milk and meat together, or I don’t have the possibility of engaging in incestuous acts.” Rather, we should say, “I have the capability of doing these things, but what can I do? My Father in Heaven has forbidden them to me.”

If you can give up cheeseburgers, you can give up homosexuality too.

The Torah teaches us to chose good and to distance ourselves from evil. Furthermore, the Torah defines for us what is good and what is evil. There is a natural inclination in the world that pushes us toward engaging in evil actions, but through the strength that the Torah gives us, we overcome our evil inclination and chose to do the proper things instead.

This preface comes to let you know that you should not feel abnormal for the situation you describe. But just as we relate to other lusts, we must relate to this lust in the same manner. Going to a meeting with other men who share this same inclination seems to me to be a negative thing to do. Meets of this sort can only be beneficial if their intent is to help the person overcome his problem. Thus an overweight person can attend a gathering of other overweight people if the intent is to support one another in undertaking a diet. But if the intent of the meeting is to encourage one another that being overweight is healthy and beautiful, then something is wrong.

I'm fat and I'm proud!

Someone with an addiction to cigarettes, or alcohol, or drugs, can benefit from a support group when the intent is to break free of the addiction.  If people with homosexual feelings come together to overcome their lusts by supporting one another to align their lives with the Torah, the can be certainly beneficial. However, if the group assembles to encourage homosexual feelings and give them justification and legitimacy, this is a negative encounter, because we are obligated to overcome our weaknesses and not give in to them. It is a grave mistake to take weaknesses and turn them into kosher ideologies.

You don’t have to consider yourself weird or some kind of social leper, but rather like any other person who has negative inclinations. Someone who walks through a supermarket and thinks about stealing something, he is a normal person who must overcome his inclination.

The way to overcome negative inclinations like the one you describe is consulting with a counselor experienced with this problem, or by attending a support group whose goal is to re-channel negative desires to the proper path, which is the male-female relationship that leads to marriage. From my experience, I can attest to cases of men like you who received counseling and guidance, and who are happily married today with families of their own. The main things is not to accept the negative inclination as the way things must be, not to say that this is who you are, but rather to summon the courage and strength to reach the true solution through the guidance and path of the Torah.