SEPARATING THE ADULT FROM ADULTERY
62. Romain, Faith and Practice, p. 48.
63. Solomon B. Freehof ,“Unworthy Man Called to Torah,” in Walter Jacob (ed.), American Reform Responsa(New York , 1983), pp. 101-106.
64. Unpublished reshuvah of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Responsa Committee, 5754.17. 65. Walter Jacob ,“Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Adultery,” in Central Conference of American
67. The argument that is sometimes advanced, that the different treatment of pecuniary and sexual transgressions represents an appropriate differentiation between the public and the private realms, makes no sense from a Jewish perspective. Although Judaism obviously acknowledges significant and critical differences between the two spheres, appropriate sanctions for transgression have always been administered by the rabbis with the tools at their disposal, no matter in which sphere the transgression took place. Moreover, the creation of neat divisions between the private and public domains is no easy matter, and adultery, particularly, extends into both areas, since it is seen as a transgression against the spouse and against God or society. Judaism could hardly tolerate an effective disregard of adultery simply on the basis that it is carried on behind closed doors.
69. According to Deuteronomy 21:18-21, for example, the ben sorer u’moreh, the“stubborn and rebellious son,” was to be stoned to death. But in a frank baraitha recorded in Sanhedrin 71a, the rabbis declared:“There never has been a‘stubborn and rebellious son,’ and never will be. Why then was the law written? That you may study it and receive reward....” In other words, the law was intended to be a spur to education, and the proposed death penalty was designed to focus profound attention on the transgression and its gravity.
70. If sanctions were ever actually applied they need not, of course, be in place forever. They could be applied for a limited period or until reshuvah had been satisfactorily effected. In this context one ought to remember that reshuvah is a process without specific length that can be considered complete only when“recognition of the sinful act, sincere remorse, confession, restitution, and resolve” have been addressed. It goes well beyond simply saying,“I am sorry.” See Arthur Gross Schaeffer,“Teshuva and Rabbinic Sexual Misconduct,” CCAR Journal: A Reform Jewish Quarterly (Summer/Fall 1995), pp. 75-80.
7. See Rachel Adler ,“A Stumbling Block before the Blind: Sexual Exploitation in Pastoral Counseling,” CCAR Journal(Spring 1993), pp. 13-43.
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