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  Courtesy of Melissa Minkin Rabbi David Rue (left) and Rabbi Benay Lappe chat during a break from the discussion last night at UCLA Hillel.

By Lisa Klassen

Daily Bruin Reporter

In a move to understand the relationship between Judaism and sexuality, students and other community members met Wednesday night with a panel of rabbis to discuss the issue.

UCLA’s Hillel Center sponsored the forum, called “Trembling before G-d” after a documentary about gay Orthodox Jews, in order to promote awareness of the gay Jewish community.

“We’re here to talk not about Judaism or about sexual orientation, but about both,” said coordinator Ruttenberg, who also acted as the moderator of the forum.

The rabbis presented their backgrounds and experiences with religion and sexuality.

“There’s still too many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Jews who pass by a synagogue and say ‘That place is not for me … because I’m not okay because God says so,’” said panelist Rabbi Benay Lappe, who is a lesbian.

The second member of the panel, Rabbi David Rue, represented the Los Angeles Rabbinic Court as well as Judaic law. His Orthodox training in Israel and experience as the Senior Justice of the Los Angeles Rabbinic Court surprised many audience members.

“I was surprised to see the conservative side represented,” said Adam Levy, a second-year psychology student. “I was interested in what the conservative Orthodox side had to say, and I think having their voice in the panel made things more interesting.”

According to Rue, the Torah forbids male homosexuality but says nothing against female homosexuality.

“The Torah condemns male homosexuality because in that particular act there is no possibility for procreation,” said Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, director of UCLA Hillel. “The seed is spilled, and there is no life created, but with women, nothing is lost.”

According to the panel, the family is central to Jewish beliefs. The panel addressed the question of whether or not a gay couple constitutes a family.

“If they can become a family unit, then it contributes to the Jewish way,” Seidler-Feller said.

Panelists said love and caring are more important in a family relationship than the sexual orientation of the parents.

“I know of traditional rabbis that will marry a (heterosexual) couple who they know can’t have kids,” said Rabbi J.B. Sacks-Rosen, a panelist and spiritual leader of the Congregation Shaarei Torah in Arcadia. “I don’t really think that every family should focus on procreation.”

The idea that homosexuality is a sin evoked various responses from the panel. Although the Torah proclaims that homosexual acts are an “abomination,” some felt that the ancient text is open to revision and interpretation.

“There is no limit to how much the Torah can be revised,” Lappe said. “According to rabbis 2,000 years ago, change is okay if the ultimate goal is to save the Torah.”

According to Lappe and fellow panelist Rabbi Lisa Edwards, founder of Los Angeles’ Beth Chayim Chadashim – the world’s oldest gay and lesbian synagogue, Jews today often misinterpret the true meaning of the text. The passage in question, said Edwards and Lappe, has a different context.

“In that narrative context, the text refers to heterosexual people engaging in homosexual acts,” said Sacks-Rosen. “It means that homosexual people shouldn’t do what’s unnatural for them, just as heterosexual people shouldn’t have homosexual sex, because they’re not homosexual.”

Rue and Seidler-Feller disagree. To them, this interpretation is too radical.

“It’s the recognition of a completely different lifestyle,” Seidler-Feller said. “It’s not just a violation because it’s called an abomination in the Torah. It’s also a social matter. When parents find out that their child is gay, they immediately think, ‘My life is over.’ It is (a) deep and harsh hit to the family tradition.”

Some panelists said gay relationships are supported by the stories of Ruth and Naomi and Jonathan and David in the Bible.

“It’s hard if you’re gay or lesbian to read these stories and not to see the relationship between them and to see that they are in love,” Edwards said.

Though the panel was unable to come to a conclusion about the role of gays in the Jewish faith, the rabbis agreed that gays should be included in the Jewish community.

According to Edwards, gays should interpret the Torah in their own way to determine how they can find a balance between their sexual orientation and faith.

“The greatest criterion to looking at the Torah is to ask yourself, ‘Is this true to life?’” Edwards said. “It is not a question of whether we can change the Torah, but rather, should we change the Torah? In the end, it’s up to each of us to decide for ourselves what the Torah means.”