Setting the Record Straight: Historical Attitudes Toward Homosexuality

Yosef Qaro (A.K.A. Shulchan Aruch), Avkat Rokhel 206 (16th Century, Ottoman Empire) (Translation by Noam Sienna)

[Yosef Qaro is asked a question that describes how a number of communities of Iberian exiles in Manila have created a unified community council, but the Jews of Toledo oppose the appointment of a particular leader.]

On the advice of this sage, the leaders and treasurers established one particular decree and agreement, which was an exigency ruling: since they had seen the sins of this licentious generation - and especially how bachelors and young men would travel out of the city on Shabbat to particular places, where they would commit serious and evil transgressions - they agreed that [young men] would not be permitted to travel on Shabbat outside the city to those particular places. They announced this agreement in all the congregations, [sending] respected sages to announce it, and all the congregations to uphold it.

But, later one Shabbat, a group of young men from the Toledo congregation violated this agreement, and went to travel; they said that they had only heard one particular place [mentioned in the agreement] and not the other places to which they had traveled. The sage, along with the other leaders, told them that the agreement applied to all these places; he then warned them, telling them that since they claimed they had not heard [the full agreement] their transgression was accidental, but from now on they had been warned. If they went [to any of these places] they would be violating the agreement and be subject to excommunication [herem], Heaven forbid. Some from the congregation said that they did not want to accept [this condition], and the sage answered them that they could not undo the agreement which they had already accepted and which had been proclaimed; but they continued to gossip [about it].

The [young men] did not go out to any of these places for two or three Shabbats, but on the day of Shabbat Zakhor, certain rebellious men came forth and said that the sage had given permission to travel [anywhere] with exception of this one particular place. Many bachelors and young men followed them, along with other reckless and irresponsible men; they went traveling and violated the agreement. The leaders and treasurers came together to punish them, and those from the Lorca congregation accepted the rebuke, and left the synagogue asking for forgiveness; they were forgiven for what they had done in transgression. But those from the Toledo congregation did not want to accept the rebuke, saying that they did not violate the agreement, and that the authority of their leader and treasurer would support them.

Their claim—that the sage had given them permission—was found to be false, since he would have been unable to give permission [by himself] without the other treasurers, but after that they still insisted that they had not accepted [that the agreement applied] to any place other than this one, even though the sage and the other leaders explained that the agreement applied to everything and that they had agreed to all of it, and so they had violated the agreement. They dared to object to the sage, saying that they would not accept his authority, and that they would take their case to the great sage, the honored physician Shmuel Zabi (may the Merciful protect and redeem him). The [other] congregations were satisfied with this, in order to prevent disputes from multiplying in the community. The sage himself put his pride aside, even though there is no greater shame than this.

Yitshaq Molkho, Orhot Yoshor (Salonica, 1769) (Translation by Noam Sienna)

A man should be very careful that he not allow his son to come and go unattended to festive events and celebrations where most of the bachelors transgress against the prohibition of, “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman” (Leviticus 18:22) - the responsibility rests on the father’s shoulders if he does not go after them when they go to these celebrations, and especially in a group of friends… For in every case temptation dances before them, and it is not possible for youth to resist the flame… Therefore, any man who fears the word of God should guard his son carefully when he reaches the age of twelve, for [from this age on] he is tempted very easily.

And for this reason there is no similar prohibition for women… For unmarried women, because they are secluded and confined; for married women, it is not common for a man and a woman to be alone together in a private place; and in any case, a woman is not tempted so easily… Not so with the young men, who are always found [together] in one place, and who are not ashamed to be in seclusion with one another, although [the Talmud teaches that] “Jews are not suspected of homosexuality (Kiddushin 82a). Further, they are brash boys and are easily tempted, for they do not have much shame. This is especially true when there are festive events and celebrations, or when they go out for some drinking or traveling; then their inclinations rule over them.

Therefore, the man who fears the word of God must not let his son go here and there, and if it is necessary at some time for him to go to some celebration or festivity, then his father should go with him... for we have already said that boys need more supervision than girls, since girls are got likely to corrupt themselves. Similarly, one who teaches boys, from ten years old until they are married—the teacher should watch them carefully, and not let them go off to a private place.

I am speaking from my own concerns, for since I was 24 years old until now, when I am 45, I have seen many corruptions, and the latest was the most serious. Two or three students went up to the attic of one of them to study halakhah [Jewish law], but it was later revealed to me that this study session was in fact a corruption. And similarly, another rabbi told me that when he went to deal with some matter and had to leave the students [unattended], he would instruct members of his household to watch them. Therefore, the rabbis of our city [Salonica] made an ordinance that no unmarried student may go about at night to the house of study where married men study. Similarly, in the textile workshops which we have here in Salonica, [they decreed] that no bachelor should inherit the right to have his own loom, for if he has his own loom he would need to have apprentices, and it is not appropriate for a craftsman who is still a bachelor to have apprentices, for temptation dances between them and similarly for all other crafts. Attached to this ordinance, [we added] the teaching of the Rambam of blessed memory: namely, that a man without a wife should not teach boys, [to prevent temptation] by the mothers who come with their children.

And this is the text of the ordinances:

No bachelor may go out to sing—neither at a groom's ceremony, nor at the [yeshiva of the] Talmud Torah on Shabbat, nor in any community synagogue where there is [a celebration for] a groom, a father of a newborn boy, or a boy to be circumcised, until he has completed one full year of marriage. [Until then] they may not go with the pizmonjis [singers of liturgical poetry] to sing at the night of a circumcision, even if it is a relative, and no young man who is unmarried may go to study sessions at night.

Rabbi Yaaqov Sasportas, Letter to Rabbi Yehoshua da Silva (Amsterdam, 1674) (Translation by Noam Sienna)

To Rabbi Yehoshua da Silva, 19 Adar II [March 27, 1674]:

An impure deed, incomprehensible to the human intellect, was done during those painful days… some of the students in the beit midrash [house of study], because of their jealousy and rivalry with one another, spread a rumor, “at which the ears of one who heard it would tingle'' (I Samuel 3:11): namely, that two upstanding students, Isaac Netto and Eliyahu Lopez, were suspected of homosexual relations, Heaven forbid. These matters were brought before the mahamad [the Jewish communal council], and in this punitive court their sentence was delivered: expulsion and exile.

When it was signed, their color fled and they were left white-faced [from embarrassment] and there arose much “contempt and anger” (Esther 1:18). Then their anger was kindled against the shepherds [i.e. leaders; Zachariah 10:3] and they decided to seize the beit midrash of Ets Haim. A great panic took hold of the community, while the faces of the students grew pale [with fear], sleeping in shame and covered in embarrassment. When the anger in the house of Torah had grown, and the zealous students did not stop insulting them, they lodged a complaint against the elders of the mahamad.

Hearing the “uproar of the city” (Isaiah 66:6), and “the strong fury” (Proverbs 21:14), in order to quell the fire of rebuke [the mahamad] twice sent the cantor of the community to me, [asking me] to gather my strength… When I came before the mahamad, I found the leaders of Ets Haim with them, and before them was a Torah scroll on which the witnesses would swear, to verify their testimony in front of me.

But when I heard their words, the affair exasperated me and I told them that the activities of young men are meaningless [hevel], and that there was nothing more for us to do to them than to have them beaten and punished with a rod for bearing false witness.

Ephraim Chayot (Ashkenazi Rabbi from Hungary), Miqraei Qodesh (Moralizing work), 1829 (Translation by Noam Sienna)

Despite [the fact] that Maimonides wrote in Issurei Bi'ah 22:2 that “Israel should not be suspected of homosexual activity,” these people (may their names and memories be blotted out) make our holy Torah into a fraud (but despite this falsehood, [I assert that] Moses was true and his Torah was true). In all the [Christian] countries of the world—Spain, France, Italy, England, and Poland—even though these nations believe in Jesus of Nazareth, they still refrain from homosexual activity. And certainly how much more so and more so the Jews separate and distance themselves from this abomination [toevah], such that they do not know or recognize any matter relating to this impurity.

Woe to the ears that hear this! Because of our many sins, in the lands of the Ishmaelites [the Ottoman Empire], even the Jews are suspected of homosexual activity. Oh, woe! Woe to that shame, woe to that embarrassment! We are a disgrace to all the nations. Has anyone heard or seen anything like this: that this abomination is done even among Israel? And because of our many sins, there is nobody who notices, even if they all cry out, “What is this, and why have many troubles come to us, and every day brings worse calamity than before!” But their eyes are blocked from seeing this terrible sin, such that they might find relief for their ills.

At first, when I heard of this ugly and terrible matter, that this plague was seen among the houses of Israel, I did not want to believe it. I said to myself that it was an impossible matter; how could the great descendants of Avraham, Yitshaq, and Ya‘aqov profane the holy covenant and spoil it, being suspected of this ugly and terrible matter, this great evil, this deed that is against the Holy Blessed One and against nature? I did not believe it until I came to a great city of sages and scribes, in the land of Rumelo [Rumelia, i.e. the Balkans], and stayed there for six weeks. I had at that time a young man accompanying me as an attendant, from the city of Sofia in that country.

One time I went to visit a great and respected sage in that community. As I was walking in the main square of the city, a young man came and demanded from my attendant that he pay him two grosh [i.e. kurus, a small coin]...[Having carried the argument to the house], now this young man was screaming and crying, and they were caught up in a big argument with each other, and I was puzzled: what is the matter, that he is screaming as if tied up, and crying so bitterly?...While all this was happening, a certain sage came who had been there staying in my guest room, and when he heard the argument of these two, the sage said to my attendant, “Why didn’t you want to pay him? I know that this young man is right; you owe him.”

Immediately my attendant winked his eyes and motioned with his finger to this sage, who went and stood with him on the side, and my attendant whispered into his ear. When he finished speaking, the sage’s expression changed and he came and said to this young man who was demanding [the money], “Get out of here immediately!”...

I didn’t understand any of what he was saying, because it never occurred to me to suspect of anyone that they would do this terrible abomination, and so he told me explicitly that these cursed ones did this great and terrible deed, and that this was the debt that the young man was demanding—it was incomprehensible. This sage then said to me that he, and many others, knew that this young man (may his name be blotted out) offered his unclean body for hire for this abomination. I raised my voice in bitter weeping when I heard this terrible thing and did not want to see the evil face of this attendant until he had repented; as soon as I found another attendant, I released this one and sent him away. From then on, I believed what had been said to me earlier, and I later heard that there were Jews in other places who were suspected of this abomination…

It is clear and agreed-upon by medical experts that most human and animal illnesses are caused by air that is not clean or pure. And these cursed evil ones, who engage in homosexual activity, cause a stench in the air because of this, Heaven forbid, and this is clear and obvious to all who know the natural sciences: they bring all kinds of terrible illnesses, and especially scabs on the head. And from the prevalence of this evil transgression comes plague, Heaven forbid, and experience proves it, since plagues are not as common worldwide as they are in the lands of the Ishmaelites. It is true that there are other things that also cause plague, like the cleanliness in some matters that is lacking in these countries; but nonetheless, both of these things cause plagues. And this uncleanliness of homosexual intercourse is the main cause of harmful [illnesses]...

Therefore, it is appropriate and correct for every Jew to make a barrier and a fence for himself. The first barrier is: he should be very careful not to have two men sleeping in one bed together, and he should close his eyes to avoid seeing the faces of young men and women...And he should avoid looking at his own genitals, and obviously even more so those of others, even of a child—for these things bring a man to evil thoughts and accustom him to indecency. And if he should happen to have some evil thought, Heaven forbid, then he should imagine in his mind that this is the Angel of Death coming to take away his life, and the life of his children, Heaven forbid...The second [barrier] is: he should recite the nighttime Shema when going to bed, with full intention, according to what is written in the prayer books, with the confession, wholeheartedly [resolving] to abandon sin... The third [barrier] is: he should recall that because of the sins of wasting seed and homosexual intercourse, he will bury his own child Heaven forbid. How could he harden his heart and not have pity on his son and daughters? [How could he] be so cruel to them that he would cause their death?... The fourth [barrier] is: he should guard himself against engaging in idle talk or falsehoods, Heaven forbid, for it is an evil and very horrid habit, and leads to several sins...

Paraphrasing of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, by Rabbi Nati Helfgot

In a 1976 responsa, the late and revered posek Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt”l unequivocally lays out the view that homosexuality is "disgusting" and rejects the possibility of any desire for homosexual intimacy. The only desire for such activity must be driven by a purely evil desire to "rebel against the will of God," he asserts, adding that even the gentiles recognize that there is no natural desire to engage in homosexual activity. Moreover, even the gay person himself, "the wicked," in R. Feinstein's language, looks down on his partners and recognizes that he is engaged in a debasing and unnatural act. In a later passage in the responsa, R. Feinstein even castigates those who search for reasons why the Torah forbids homosexual relations because "they undermine the severity of the prohibition in the eyes of the evildoers who lust for this repugnant indulgence." In this paradigm, there can be no natural inclination to engage in gay sex, all societies frown upon it, and it is patently obvious that anyone can stop engaging in homosexual acts if they just summon up sufficient religious motivation to avoid sin. In R. Feinstein's model, no one is born inherently with homosexual tendencies, and there is no room for gay identity. A school or community adopting R. Feinstein's rubric would struggle even to accept an openly gay student or adult into the walls of its institution if that individual has no intention of attempting to reign in his "evil" and "disgusting" inclinations, which are a direct "rebellion" to God and his Torah.

Excerpt from "Homosexuality, Halakha and High School," by Rabbi Tully Harcsztark

In effect, in this segment of halakhic literature, gay people do not (according to R. Feinstein) or need not (according to R. Aviner) exist. But much has changed in recent decades. Most members of our community accept that there are gay men and women in the Orthodox community. It is now a few years since support for conversion therapy has largely disappeared, at least in our local community. We accept that some people are gay, full stop. Still, there seems to remain the trace of a belief that that might not be; by not saying it out loud, we cover their existence.

Excerpt from "Statement of Principles on the Place of Jews with a Homosexual Orientation in our Community" (2010)

Accordingly, Jews with homosexual orientations or same sex-attractions should be welcomed as full members of the synagogue and school community. As appropriate with regard to gender and lineage, they should participate and count ritually, be eligible for ritual synagogue honors, and generally be treated in the same fashion and under the same halakhic and hashkafic framework as any other member of the synagogue they join. Conversely, they must accept and fulfill all the responsibilities of such membership, including those generated by communal norms or broad Jewish principles that go beyond formal halakha.