NEW JERSEY, July 1, 2013 /EINPresswire.com/ -- This past Monday, June 24, the New Jersey State Assembly and Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill that would ban the controversial reparative therapy for gay minors. The bill has now been sent to the governor for his signature. This was despite the fact that no expert testimony could prove the therapy was harmful.

Religious Jewish communities are particularly dismayed by this bill. Students with religious background make extra effort to keep their traditional family values, and if a child or a teenager needs help in this area, the therapist helping him may lose his license if this bill passes.

Organizations such as Agudath Israel of America have urged their members to fight this bill by contacting their state senators and assemblymen.

But of course, gays have spared no effort in their campaign, and have even targeted religious Jews, as in the case of the naked bicycle ride on a Saturday two weeks ago near the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Williamsburg.

In the face of all this adversity, Rabbi Yisroel Neuman, dean of the world's largest rabbinical college in Lakewood, New Jersey, has exhorted his students to keep separate from today's immoral society, just as our forefathers separated from immoral society in Egypt. Orthodox Jewish schools and parents are very upset over the new law, which will impair their ability to keep that separation and teach their values to the next generation.

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem pro-family activists are working to release three confiscated donkeys, to be used as props in a counter-gay rally a month from now. The donkeys belong to Baruch Marzel and were confiscated by the police during a demonstration last year. Ever since the gay pride movement came to Jerusalem seven years ago, protests against them have followed a strictly non-violent policy, aimed as much at our community itself as at the outside world. We want to teach our children that one can withstand his temptations and be on a higher level than donkeys. This lesson is especially important in today's world, with gays trying to impose their permissive beliefs on others.

As the New York City mayoral race heats up, candidates gathered in Brooklyn's Jewish community on June 4 to answer questions about their policies. Democratic Mayoral Candidate Eric Salgado courageously defended the practices of Orthodox Jews, while the other major candidates defended immorality and attacked the practice of traditional circumcision.

Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, supported the policy imposed by the Bloomberg administration to require parental consent forms for traditional circumcision practice. She also said she would not allow the use public money to buy textbooks for yeshivas, nor would she push to use federal money to help synagogues and churches rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

In conclusion, we reiterate the words of the famous declaration on the Torah approach to homosexuality, signed by a wide spectrum of Jewish spiritual leaders and professionals, to be found at torahdec.org:

From a Torah perspective, the question whether homosexual inclinations and behaviors are changeable is extremely relevant. The concept that G-d created a human being who is unable to find happiness in a loving relationship unless he violates a biblical prohibition is neither plausible nor acceptable. G-d is loving and merciful. Struggles, and yes, difficult struggles, along with healing and personal growth are part and parcel of this world. Impossible, life long, Torah prohibited situations with no achievable solutions are not.

We emphatically reject the notion that a homosexually inclined person cannot overcome his or her inclination and desire. Behaviors are changeable. The Torah does not forbid something which is impossible to avoid. Abandoning people to lifelong loneliness and despair by denying all hope of overcoming and healing their same-sex attraction is heartlessly cruel. Such an attitude also violates the biblical prohibition in Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:14 “and you shall not place a stumbling block before the blind.”

Press Release Service

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Yitzchok Caller
New Jersey Orthodox Jews for Family Values
732 901 6176
email us here

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