Stop blaming and bothering homosexual men, Women, Atheist Jews, and Gentiles

Who are the ones the Torah addresses?

This may hurt. Sometimes, the truth hurts. For those who seek it.

Homosexual Men

This Yom Kippur, Orthodox Synagogues around the globe will again read from the Torah about its numerous sexual Injunctions. Among them, the Command [implied: for a man] not to have sex with a man as he would have with a woman.

My Moroccan synagogue has a nice solution. At Festivals, we have an extra Chazzan who’s Yemenite. He’s a very learned Jew and Levite. So, they give him the second Aliyah, but a little bit more than the division in the prayer book. He reads the text, including the injunction on homosexuality, in the traditional Yemenite way, and no one really understands what he reads.

That’s a smart tradition because statistically, at least one-third of all Jews in attendance have a first-degree LGBTQ+ family member.

The simple meaning of the Hebrew Torah text is that heterosexual men should not engage in homosexual intercourse as if he’s with a woman!

Yet, the rabbis don’t need to destroy all their anti-homosexual rhetoric. But they must address the proper people, the Straight Guys. For sex, don’t seek men instead of women! Sexuality is to forge deep connections, not an addictive pleasurable pastime.

Women

The Torah was the first widely circulated Document that gave rights and esteem to women. But it seems so sexist. Not for what it says but for what it doesn’t. It hardly acknowledges women. This should be understood well.

Generally, women are not the problem in the world. Who make wars, who are selfish and lack empathy, who oppress for their pleasure? Yes, there are moral men. Yes, there are immoral women. But the Torah addresses the typical person, not exceptions. And if most regular men would shape up, all of humanity would be in a much better place.

Yet, the rabbis don’t need to destroy all their rhetoric against immorality. But they must address the proper people, the men. Don’t blame everyone for being too selfish. Don’t you realize how much most wives and mothers secretly sacrifice of their comfort?

Atheist Jews

Here, we can be brief. Stop blaming the Atheists. Reb Shlomo Carlebach already said: ‘When the restaurant is good, people will eat there.’ If Jews don’t show up at our services and lectures, there’s something (a lot) we do wrong. Go learn from them. Eat humble pie, and try to learn from what they know. When Orthodox Jews shape up, the others will be interested.

Yet, the rabbis don’t need to destroy all rhetoric against serving the self instead of G^d. But they must address the proper people, Orthodox Jews.

Gentiles

The Torah could not have been clearer. While it’s a Blueprint for life for any decent person, it puts most of its demands on Jews.

Surely, there is Antisemitism, and not so little. But the rabbis always hold both the Antisemites responsible but highlight to Jews that G^d let them because of our sins. No, we don’t blame the victim; we empower them.

***

And what terrible sin must we break to turn the world around?

How about smiling at everyone you meet and meaning it?

Hard? It’s supposed to be hard. But not impossible!

We’re allowed to cry until we can do it!

First, admit we took life as a burden. Only then, make the change.

About the Author

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. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 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, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * 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 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. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * 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