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from page 28
nied by an increased awareness of
attraction to the opposite gender."
Medical Link
Spitzer interviewed 200 men and
women who have experienced a sig-
nificant shift from homosexual to het-
erosexual attraction, and have sus-
tained this shift for at least five years.
By the time of the study interview,
three-quarters of the men and half of
the women were married.
"If somebody wants to change and
it's not because they are just respond-
ing to pressure, it shouldn't be
assumed that it's irrational or giving
in to society," Spitzer told an inter-
viewer.
Spitzer's personal involvement in
this particular study is of special sig-
nificance: He was a leading figure in
the 1973 APA decision that removed
homosexuality from the official diag-
nostic manual of mental disorders.
Rosenberg is sympathetic to those
who feel that they cannot change.
"While there's no question that
Judaism prohibits homosexual acts,
we must be mindful that it can be a
very painful struggle, one that you
can't judge if you've never been there,"
he says.
"Still, although it can be difficult,
the potential for change is always
there." ❑
JONAH can be reached at (201) 433-
3444. This column was distributed
through Am Echad Resources, a New
York City-based Orthodox advocacy
group.
COUNTERPOINT
from page 28
accepted by their Jewish community.
They are volunteers who have become
involved with the Michigan Jewish
AIDS Coalition and have told us that
it is their first Jewish connection in
years.
They may have never received a
direct message that they would be
rejected if they were homosexual —
however, they never received the mes-
sage, anytime during their religious
school education, that it was all right
if they came to the realization some-
day that they were.
Those who are members of Reform
temples are just beginning to feel that
there may be a place for them, espe-
cially if the temple has formed an
inclusion committee or has clergy
who are homosexual themselves.
Many Conservative and Orthodox
Jews, at least in metro Detroit, are
mostly in hiding, as are their families.
The message that groups like
JONAH send is that one can prevent
rejection from Judaism if only they
embrace the heterosexual "lifestyle."
The word lifestyle implies a choice
and in most instances (some bisexuals
excluded) that is not an option.
Perhaps preventing rejection from
Judaism can occur in an entirely dif-
ferent way.
Rabbi Artson summarizes his beliefs
by stating, "Simple justice cries out
for decriminalization of homosexuali-
ty in Jewish law. Homosexuality is no
illness, nor is it necessarily unethical.
As with heterosexuality, it can be
expressed in ways that are degrading
to human dignity or in ways that are
nurturing and ethical. Encouraging
sexual responsibility and stability
among homosexuals can only
strengthen family values and tradi-
tional communities. We must find a
way to draw these people into the fab-
ric of Jewish community, with the
goal of bringing them to a life of
Torah and mitzvot."
That is the alternative to offering
false hope of a change that is highly
improbable. O.
PARTNERSHIP
from page 27
To be Jewish became more than
faith, ritual and ethics, and was not
exhausted by synagogue affiliation.
Through Israel, Jews understood
themselves as a people, a nation
engaged with a whole new scope of
issues and opportunities that, in turn,
gave new meaning and vibrancy to
Jewish life.
We grew beyond a Judaism defined
exclusively by the issues of synagogues
and study halls. We embraced the
breadth of social, political, moral and
cultural concerns that accompany a
community attempting to build a
nation and live as a people. It is
because of Israel that Jews discovered
a new sense of pride, dignity, courage,
unity and strength, without which
Jewish life and renaissance would be
severely impaired.
Without its world Jewry partner-
ship, however, Israel would also lose a
central aspect of its meaning and
importance. Its primary role would be
as a nation serving a few million
recent immigrants to an area where
they are the minority. Under these
conditions, why should Israel be a
Jewish state and not a state of all its
citizens? Why should Judaism play a
role in shaping the identity of the
country? A national secular Israeli cul-
ture should fulfill this role. It is only
because Israel represents and serves a
people beyond its borders, a people
whose identity is founded on a shared
religion beyond nationalism, that
Israel must retain its identity as a
Jewish state.
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Yet, Israel has been separated from
Jewish renaissance in America, viewed
as an overseas allocation instead of as
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Without its world
Jewry partnership,
however, Israel would
also lose a central
aspect of its meaning
and importance.
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a local need capable of playing an
essential role in the renaissance of our
people.
At the same time, in Israel, world
Jewry is viewed as a source for finan-
cial assistance, to be marginalized
when the assistance is not critical. It is
not treated as a real partner with a
stake in this country, and who must
be respected and made to feel that
this is also their home. Instead, talk
about how we do not need world
Jewry emanates from some of our
leaders; as a society, we fail to treat
their religious denominations as legiti-
mate.
It is time to rebuild the partnership.
World Jewry must place coming to
Israel this year at the center of its
agenda. Not, however, only coming
on solidarity missions where the pri-
mary focus is on bringing gifts to the
children of Gilo or funds for armored
buses; that merely perpetuates the old
failing relationship. World Jewry must
come so that, together, we can learn
and discover ways to rebuild- our rela-
tionship, give it new content and
meaning and thus enrich Jewish life in
the modern world. ❑
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