Marty Moseson posted what I consider a very worthy and important comment to an earlier blog post by me. Here is his whole reaction (slightly edited):
As a man attracted to the same sex, I disagree with you completely. First of all, Gays have it better in Israel than 90% of the world. Things take time to change. Secondly, attacking rabbis is not the way to go. You attack the religious community, you end up hurting the closeted religious kids. This war against rabbis by LGBT is endangering religious closeted men and women because gays are perceived as enemies to orthodoxy and vice versa.
I think there is much to say for your opinion. And still, I maintain my post. Let me explain.
I committed myself to write in my blog things that not everyone writes. So many people praise how well gays have it in Israel. There are good reasons for that tribute. But it also hides that the situation is still terrible.
My post was prompted by speaking to a young Orthodox-Jewish gay guy (He can’t yet say the words gay or homo out-loud) who has nothing to live for because the rabbis don’t agree with him being intimate with anyone ever. We know for years already that a whopping 20% of GLBTQ in Israel tried suicide. Tried – not just contemplated. How horrifying!
For years, I thought like you, Marty. Then I noticed that the rabbis don’t move, except cosmetically. At first, I thought that they were fearing attacks if they would inform themselves and be more honest. But I kept asking myself: How do these rabbis sleep at night? I can tell you now: They sleep excellently. Because they don’t care. They really don’t.
This in stark contrast with thousand upon thousands of straight Orthodox-Jewish parading allies, as I reported earlier.
Thousands of young gay Jews are leaving the religion, the country, live with utter depression and try suicide and the rabbis are silent — except for some token apologetics and private smiles.
We talk about more than a million changed (unable to marry halachically) Jewish men and women!
I agree that being nice to rabbis is important – I am that all the time and many are my friends – but on this issue, hard words are needed. If placating them would work, it’s done plenty, with no results.
And this stagnation keeps me from sleeping soundly. This issue is not merely of academic interest. People jump to their deaths and the rabbis yawn. They have power but don’t use it. They are not part of a solution; they are a major part of – if not sole cause to – the problem.
Sure, many Orthodox rabbis see gay liberation as the enemy of Judaism. However, they had the same problem with Feminism and things did not improve by women being nice(r) to the rabbis. (This is not a rabbinic flaw. Almost all people are lazy and selfish and if you don’t speak up, most people, and especially leaders, will not hear you.)
You can’t spoil the good name Gay Lib has with the rabbis – it has none. And being nice to them has not worked at all. They have not stopped the bullies among them, that have not read up on the issues involved, they have not changed Jewish Law, and they are not even considering it.
Attacks on the rabbis haven’t caused them to see gays as the enemy. Rather, the rabbis still think that being gay is a lifestyle choice instead of a neuro-biological fact. Therefore they see GLBTQ as the enemy. And they are attacked only recently for that. And not the other way around.
Let’s agree to go good cop / bad cop on them. You go good cop, I’ll go bad cop. Not because I disagree with you about being nice. But without attacks on their bastion of indifference, nothing will change. Believe me.
NB: Attacking the rabbis does not mean to degrade them, Heaven forbid. Rather, it means to hold them to their stature and responsibility.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
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His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
