Naaseh adam b’tsalmeinu*
I stay away from DovBear’s blog for less than 24 hours, and this post of his already has over 110 comments by the time I see it. Sheesh!
DB and his blog’s right-wing sometime-contributor, Bray, had quite a go at it.
Seriously, issues of sexual preference and/or identity aren’t going to disappear just because we want them to. See this post at Jewschool.
*"26 And God said: 'Let us make (a) human(kind) in our image, . . . (Parshat B'reishit/Genesis 1:26) " Doesn't that apply to all humans?
DB and his blog’s right-wing sometime-contributor, Bray, had quite a go at it.
Seriously, issues of sexual preference and/or identity aren’t going to disappear just because we want them to. See this post at Jewschool.
*"26 And God said: 'Let us make (a) human(kind) in our image, . . . (Parshat B'reishit/Genesis 1:26) " Doesn't that apply to all humans?
posted by Shira Salamone at 7:25 PM
3 Comments:
Shira, I don't get your point. As most explain it, "In God's image" refers to sentience, free will, etc. Then yes, all humans are "in God's image", including Haman, Hitler, Arafat, etc. That certainly doesn't mean that their behaviors follow God's will and/or emulate God. So can't one also disapprove of - in the example at hand - cross-dressing on religious grounds (see this week's parsha!) without being accused of dehumanizing those being disapproved of?
Sorry about the delay, but since you referred to this week's parsha (Ki Tetze/Deuteronomy, chapter 21, verse 10-chapter 25, verse 19), I just had to wait 'til I could look it up. And yep, you were referring to exactly the verse to which I thought you were referring, 22:5: [My so-called translation] There will not be a vessel (? k'li) of a man on a woman, and a man will not dress in the dress of a woman, for an abomination to HaShem your G-d are all who do that."
" . . . can't one . . . disapprove of . . . cross-dressing on religious grounds . . . without being accused of dehumanizing those being disapproved of?"
Elie, I’ve been down a similar road before. Again, it’s a question of how one can expect a person to behave—for life—in a way other than the way HaShem made him/her (assuming that her/his actions do no harm to any other person). My complaint is against the G-d I’m not sure I believe in—You can’t tell a person to praise You for having made her/him in accordance with Your will (asani ki-r'tzono), then blame the person for having been made that way. Kakatuv, as it is written (Breishet/Genesis 18:25) "HaShofet kol ha-aretz lo ya-aseh mishpat? The judge of all the earth will not do justice???"
Elie (and everyone else), for some reading that I recommend on YU and/or the transgender and/or lesbian/gay issues in halachah/Jewish religious law, see this post by the ADDeRabbi, who also links to this older post of his.
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