VANCOUVER, February 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The more orthodox the Jewish community, the more concern there is over same sex marriage, if the reaction of some Jewish leaders is an indication. Some Jewish leaders across Canada have exposed an essential rift in the Jewish community that is similar to the one dividing Christians. The rule seems to be that the more adherence there is to the traditional teachings of the faith – whatever faith it may be – the stronger the objection to gay ‘marriage.’
One rabbi in Vancouver unwittingly put his finger on the problem that many leaders in the same-sex marriage fight have identified. Rabbi David Mivasair of Congregation Ahavat Olam, said same-sex weddings were fine, as long as both partners are Jewish. “If one is not Jewish, I don’t do it,” Mivasair said. “I don’t officiate at intermarriages.” Mivasair is a member of the Canadian Coalition of Liberal Rabbis for Same-Sex Marriage.
The reaction of Canadian Jewish leaders illustrates a division that is not between religious people and homosexuals, but between small ‘l’ liberals and those of any religion or none who hold to the Natural Law philosophy. The Natural Law is a philosophy that asserts that norms for such institutions as marriage are based not on personal whim, but on the immutable nature of the human person. Liberalism, a philosophy that grew out of 18th century rationalism, is one that rejects the idea of human nature or of objective norms for anything and exalts personal feelings as the benchmarks for human behavior.
Rabbi David Novak, a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Toronto, said that to a believing Jew, one who adheres to Natural Law philosophy, same-sex “marriage” is impossible. Novak told the Commons’ justice and human rights committee, “My views are informed by the normative authority of the Jewish tradition and are, I believe, held by the majority of Jews in Canada who are religiously affiliated.”
Novak said to the committee, “Among the essentials of universal marriage that remains intact for Jews is the restriction of marriage to a union between a woman and a man. On this point, Judaism reaffirms a norm it views as being in place since the creation of humans on earth.”
In this universal definition of marriage, he went on, the commandment in Genesis to “be fruitful and multiply” applies to all humans, and does not require the affirmation of any particular religion.
Rabbi Mivasair, illustrating the essential rift between the liberal mind and the traditional religious mind says, “This is real life and real people, many of whom have real relationships that far outlast the average heterosexual marriage.”
Mivasair unconsciously pinpoints what supporters of traditional marriage say is the basic misunderstanding of their position: that only personal feelings and not the realities of human nature or marriage, count in liberal religious circles. He said, “It feels like a very right and holy thing to do. It’s based on my own thinking that marriage is kiddushin — holy. That’s the highest value in marriage.”