are human beings created in the image of God and dedicated Jews. We must, therefore, deal with these subjects in a sensitive way. It might be helpful to recall Maimonides ’ ruling in a different context.“The Great Eagle” exhorts the dayan before making judgment:“Let all of his deeds be for the sake of Heaven, but let not the dignity of human beings be light in his eyes.”
Respect for human dignity is one of the foremost qualities required of a judge, a rabbi, and every Jew. Yet, respect for human dignity does not negate ruling according to one’s principles, conscience, and understanding of Jewish tradition, which may be contrary to another person's opinions and needs.
Most studies of homosexuality in Jewish tradition emphasize its negative aspects and the prohibition of this practice in the Torah and rabbinic literature.* The Torah castigates such behavior in males as one of the forbidden sex relationships(Lev. 18:23, 20:23) and condemns it as an abomination or abhorrence. The rabbinic sages took steps to prevent such forbidden intercourse. They also condemn lesbianism as peritzut(licentiousness), even though it was not considered a form of sexual intercourse. These prohibitions have been a consistent aspect of the tradition. This study will not accentuate these negative views of homosexuality in the tradition. Rather, it will attempt to study other aspects of the tradition that would determine the possibility of Jewish religious marriage for same-sex couples.
The Criteria of Progressive Halakhah®
There are those who believe that if Progressive and Reform Jews explore the ramifications of halakhah and tradition on current problems, they are succumbing to Orthodoxy. This belief reveals a lack of insight into the chasm between the approaches of these two streams of Judaism to revelation and halakhah. Evolving, modernist halakhah must be founded on reinterpretation of scholarly study of the classic texts of Judaism , which discovers variety, flexibility, and creativity in halakhah and draws on new information derived from archaeological excavations and documents unknown to our ancestors. Rabbi Louis Jacobs explicated: “The ultimate authority for determining which observances are