What follows is an un-nuanced story. That has two reasons. I don’t want to let sharp conclusions disappear in a cloud of nuances. And if you don’t like it, think of how gays feel about the lack of nuances when they are judged.
I was just at a symposium where they asked a forum of Orthodox rabbis why the Orthodox world makes such an issue of homosexuals. One after the other lied that it was the severity of ‘the prohibition.’ I just left. I can’t stomach so much nicely worded hatred. I will give you the real reasons.
1. Why is there such an uptick in antisemitism? As soon as the answer points at what Jews do, you know that that is a lie. The reason lies in the hearts of Gentiles. Likewise, pointing here at what homosexuals do is simply offensive. The prime reason for obsessing over homosexuals is that there is something thoroughly wrong with how heterosexuals think. It’s called homophobia but it’s not just fear. Heterosexuals are statistically much less capable of empathy. They sleep soundly while young gays kill themselves. Empathy can be learned but it may take a while before straights catch up.
2. Homosexuals on average are nice people. Too nice if you ask me. Heterosexuals splitting hairs on what they believe about homosexuality is on the back of gays feeling too unsure to rise up and shout them down. No one in the West would dare to discuss what’s wrong with non-whites but homosexuals are still fair game for so many ‘decent’ people.
3. Assimilation has made many Orthodox Jews confuse modest with prudish. Christianity has a love-hate relationship [puns not intended] with sexuality. Judaism originally didn’t. When sex becomes a taboo, it’s hard to think about it straight [another pun not intended].
4. There are two historical reasons. When gays came to the limelight en masse fifty years ago, including gay Jews, the rabbis could only conclude that that was caused by loose morals (‘Make love, not war’) penetrating [again not intended] from secular society because heterosexual Jews over decennia never gravitated to homosexuality. They did not know gays.
When the world finally found out that some people can (only) ‘become one flesh’ with someone of their own sex, it was hard for mediocre rabbis to backtrack. (Rabbis Kook and Feinstein did acknowledge Jews for whom homosexuality was natural but those remarks are suppressed.) Now it’s so bad that rabbis who admit to the obvious truth that the prohibition on homosexuality must be and can only be for straights, are accused of not being Orthodox. So they lie that the 50-year-old change in Jewish Law leaves them no choice instead of admitting that it was a costly mistake.
5. The other historic complication was AIDS. Jews just came out of the Holocaust, Israel was in constant danger, having children was a matter of survival (still), so how could they handle that some of the kids were gay (needed a partner with whom they could not procreate) and on top of that [no pun intended] were dying like flies. ‘Cures for homosexuality’ were wished up and invented — all a fraud.
6. In Israel there is an additional reason. They State had to be built and genocidal enemies had to be fought, in the shadow of the Holocaust. Those who came from the camps could either help or go to a mental institution. Ever since, the Israeli norm is that everyone must be normal. That is crazy [pun intended] but don’t blame the victim (the Jews).
Judaism was always a religion and lifestyle of reality and truth. Which is that there is nothing wrong, psychologically or religiously or morally with gay men and women looking for a same-sex partner, marrying them, and raising kids with them. They actually are better parents, as I wrote before.
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. *
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
