blogs/rabbi-huberman

Perhaps more than any portion of the Bible, this week's Torah reading has caused, in my view, more hurt to humanity than all others combined.

It enters, and even intrudes, into the most intimate and private activity that we as human beings engage in: the way that we love.

In particular, one line that is contained in this week's Torah portion, in my view, has been unduly highlighted to cause untold pain, isolation and condemnation.

Each year, as we read this sentence, I ask myself, “Is the way this verse is often taught, the way that God really intended it? “

And as some of our current religious and political leaders too often descend into rhetorics of self�"righteousness, I frequently ask myself, “What gives any other person the right to judge how we love? “

In Leviticus 18:22, which we read this week, the Torah commands, “Do not lie with a man the way that a man lies with a woman.”

And from there the judgement begins.

Yet, I often wonder, are we reading that right? How is it possible that a loving God could cut such a large swath of humanity from the majority?

Chapter 18 of Leviticus lays out a detailed code �" eighteen verses �"of human sexuality. Most of it relates to family.

So first, let us ask, “Why did the Torah have to go there? “ In my view, the answer is that society more than three thousand years ago had to establish boundaries and prohibitions regarding how those in positions of power �" employers, public officials and heads of households �" should comport themselves in matters of sexuality.

In many ways, this week's Torah reading serves as the forerunner of the #MeToo movement, long before