I have a non-jewish friend who is a homosexual. He and his partner were one of the first couples in DC to get married after it became legal (they even starred on Oprah because of it!)
Yesterday, I received an email from him with the following attachment:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/rabbi-yehuda-levin-earthquake_n_935596.html?ref=email_share
"A New York rabbi claims gay marriage and the earthquake that shook the East Coast are directly connected.
In a video uploaded to YouTube, Levin says gay rights legislation, like the gay marriage law passed in New York, are responsible for earthquakes, like the one that struck Washington, D.C. Tuesday.
“The Talmud states, 'You have shaken your male member in a place where it doesn't belong. I too, will shake the Earth,'” Levin says.
He also notes that he does not dislike gay people.
"We don't hate homosexuals," he says. "I feel bad for homosexuals. It's a revolt against God and literally, there's hell to pay."
What do we think about it?
Whom are we to assert such certitudes?
You are speaking about a man who blamed the Kletzky murder on homosexuals as well. He is up there with people like Anjem Choudary, Louis Farrakhan, and Jeremiah Wright. The only difference is that he is Jewish. Its no ones job to play god.
ReplyDeleteNutcases abound, plenty who believe they and God converse regularly. My annoyance is when meshuganas like him are taken seriously and used as a viable representation of the observant Jewish community.
ReplyDeleteIf the NY legislation was responsible for the earthquake, wouldn't the quake have hit NY directly instead of Virginia? Snort.
Do you have a source for that statement in the Talmud? Would be interested in seeing it...
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone has the right to chas veshalom "play G-d". We ARE meant to grow from everything and each person can deduce what the message was, but to say that x was the reason of WHY something happened is beyond ludicrous, its even heretical.
ReplyDeleteWhen someone makes an attribution and causation statement, I immediately question.
ReplyDeleteI question how they know, I question who they are to make such a statement, I question where the idea came from, I question what information they have, I question what their motives are... and on and on.
In science, researchers are very careful in assigning a cause. I've picked up a sensitivity to attribution statements like that.
I also heard about his "Psak" on the cause of the Kletzky murder. All I can say is that public assertations like that are very sad and a Chillul HaShem. I think the rest of the comments said it all.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it's ridiculous. On my post about Leiby A"H, I wrote what I thought about attribution and what people are claiming the reasons are.
ReplyDeleteIt's a difficult idea to begin with, but it's even harder to contemplate when it's someone you respect making these assertions. How do you reconcile the two? I mean, I never heard of this rabbi until his YouTube video about Leiby A"H, and frankly, I was nauseated. Then again, my rebbeim, who I (used to?) respect enormously, have made similar assertions! I never liked it, but who am I to say if they're right?
There are times aside from the what the rabbi purports (I'd also like a source for that one!), when chazal say that x happening is the punishment for doing y. Who's to say how that works? Not me. But maybe they are. I don't know.
I really don't like the idea, but I wonder if there is any truth to the assertions these rabbis make; not this one in particular, but in general.
As I mentioned in my post, I don't doubt that these things happen for a reason and that there's a lesson for us to learn, but I think that it's not for us to ascribe reasons for tragedies and acts of G-d occurring.
As an aside, even if it were true, and he was right, for Heaven's sake, YouTube is NOT the place to be posting it! For that alone he's a.....
I didnt know about the comments he's made on Leiby's murder. Clearly, he is not someone highly respected
ReplyDeleteI am truly sorry my friend had to fall upon that inappropriate video
This sort of thing always baffles me. There are people who make these accusations within each religion. Each one of those people think THEY -and only they -have the actual ear of God for themselves. What arrogance.
ReplyDelete