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Showing posts from June, 2015

Embracing same-sex marriage is a Torah value

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I celebrated Friday's Supreme Court decision. And I agree with the logic espoused my many of my fellow Orthodox Jews that despite what the Torah says, we have no right to foist a religious definition of marriage on a secular public. That's a handy and quick argument. An argument that goes even further is that even in marriages between 2 Jews of the same sex, the only thing forbidden by the Torah is anal sex between two men, and who are we to assume what goes on behind closed doors? But to be honest, it goes far beyond that for me. I'm not just simply dividing up my religious beliefs and my political beliefs. I would not hesitate to dance at a same-sex wedding of Jewish friends with wholehearted joy. Because when it comes right down to it, while the Torah says "toevah hee", I don't agree with the plain meaning of what the Torah says. I don't wrestle with how to reconcile my religious beliefs with my own personal morality, because, frankly, my religio

New Charedi science & history curriculum

Yeshivas Torah Bli Derech Eretz is a Charedi school in Israel that has decided to start teaching science & history to their students! Of course, it wouldn't do to teach the shmutz that goyim consider to be science and history. Only Torah True science and history will be taught. Here are some of the courses being developed for the curriculum: Entomology 101: In introductory look at the mechanism of spontaneous generation Advanced Surgical Techniques: An in depth study of the drawings of the Chazon Ish Ancient Babylonian History: How all the Jewish men in Bavel sat in Yeshiva and learned all day Medieval European History: How all the Jewish men in Europe sat in Yeshiva and learned all day Recent European History: How all the Jewish men in Europe sat in Yeshiva and learned all day while wearing black hats Gender Psychology 103: An in depth study of the ways that the female brain is built for nurturing and not for advanced study of texts. If anyone would like to co