OPINION
CONTENTS
Reform And Gays:
A Reversal Required
DENNIS PRAGER
T
he recent decision of
the Reform rabbinate,
the Central Con-
ference of American Rabbis
(CCAR), to ordain declared
homosexuals will be rescind-
ed one day, and all those who
care deeply about Reform
must hope that it will do so
before it harms Reform
Judaism.
Not since classical Reform's
decision to declare the Jews a
religion and not a people,
which led to its early anti-
Zionism, has Reform Judaism
done "something so an-
Compassion is one
thing. Dropping
- Judaism's
heterosexual ideal
is another.
tithetical to a foundation of
Judaism. That is why, just as
it later reversed itself and af-
firmed Jewish peoplehood,
Reform will eventually
reverse itself and reaffirm
man-woman love, marriage
and family.
For these are what this
issue is all about. The issue is
not about sympathy and com-
passion for homosexuals.
Every decent person has com-
passion for homosexuals who
are oppressed. And everyone
of us who knows the joy and
profundity of loving and mar-
rying feels compassion for
people who feel incapable of
making love to the opposite
sex.
But compassion for the
homosexual who has no
choice is one thing, and drop-
ping Judaism's heterosexual
idea is quite another.
The decision challenges one
of the handful of truly essen-
tial values of Judaism and
Western civilization. For
three millennia, Judaism has
fought to channel human sex-
uality into marriage. Do we
continue this fight, or do we
accept the notion that all non-
Dennis Prager is co-author of
"The Nine Questions People
Ask About Judaism" and
"Why The Jews? The Reason
for Anti-Semitism" (Simon
and Schuster). He is a
commentator on KABC Radio
in Los Angeles, and writes
and publishes a quarterly
journal on Judaism and
Society, "Ultimate Issues,"
6020 Washington Blvd.,
Culver City, CA 90232.
coercive sexual activity is
equally desirable?
I have spent a good part
of the last half year resear-
ching and writing a 15,000
word manuscript, "Judaism,
Homosexuality and Civiliza-
tion," published this month in
my quarterly journal Ulti-
mate Issues. In a lifetime of
studying, writing and lectur-
ing about Judaism I had
never been so aware of the
magnitude of Judaism's uni-
queness. Except for its in-
troduction of a universal,
moral, supranatural God,
nothing Judaism introduced
into the world was as radical-
ly different, as unnatural,
and as anti-social as its pro-
hibition of homosexuality.
My research opened my
eyes to the incredible truth
that historically, it was not
homosexuality, but Judaism's
prohibition of it, that was tru-
ly deviant. Man-boy love has
been an accepted, even laud-
ed, feature of most civiliza-
tions. It dominated Greece,
and has been an accepted
norm in the Arab and Muslim
world until the present cen-
tury. Sir Richard Burton
reported that the Chinese
love of homosexuality was
only equaled by their love of
bestiality.
The Torah's prohibition of
non-marital sex made the
creation of Western civiliza-
tion possible. Societies that
did not place boundaries
around sexuality remained
undeveloped. The subsequent
ascendancy of the Western
world can, to a significant ex-
tent, be attributed to the sex-
ual revolution initiated by
Judaism and later carried for-
ward by Christianity.
When Judaism said that
the sexual instinct must be
channeled into marriage, it
literally changed history.
When not channeled into
marriage, sex-dominated
society and religion. Before
Judaism, sex even dominated
religious life. Throughout the
world, the gods all had sex
with other gods and engaged
in both heterosexual and
homosexual sex with mortal
men and women. Both homo-
sexual and heterosexual sex
were religious rituals in most
of the world's religions — un-
til influenced by Western, i.e.,
Judeo-Christian, civilization.
One of the most important
consequences of Judaism's
unique prohibition of homo-
sexuality was the elevation of
women. Wherever homo-
sexuality was widely ac-
Continued on Page 10
15
DETROIT
Veteran Ignition
ALAN HITSKY
Two Youth Games veterans
will signal the start.
22
CLOSE-UP
Men Of Good Will
15
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
The JWV is fighting
to keep the memories alive.
BACKGROUND
Stirring The Cauldron
28
JAMES D. BESSER
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait
has the Mideast pot boiling.
36
BUSINESS
Toy Express
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Ex-Detroiters find toys
in Israel aren't child's play.
46
FITNESS
Getting Physical
22
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Brad Geffen traded business
for the world of health.
83
LIFESTYLES
Eagles Dare
CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ
James Blum snatched Scouting's
most coveted award at age 14.
SINGLE LIFE
Testing Forgiveness
94
RICHARD PEARL
Assertiveness, restructuring
are helping area singles.
DEPARTMENTS
27
39
40
62
65
76 Fine Arts
Inside Washington
Community
Synagogues
Travel
Entertainment
84
Engagements
92 Births
96 Classified Ads
126 Obituaries
CANDLELIGHTING
94
8:24 p.m.
Friday, August 10, 1990
Sabbath ends August 11 9:27 p.m.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
7