How Does Jewish Tradition View Proposition 8? Look at the Midrash for the Story of Noah, This Week's Torah Portion!
In Jewish tradition, the weekly Torah portion always has special significance for the week in which it is read. Therefore it is undoubtedly not coincidental that election day, Tuesday, November 4, the day that Proposition 8 appears on the ballot in California, falls out in the week of Parshat Noach, the Torah portion that relates the story of Noah and the Flood. The Midrash tells us, twice in fact:
"Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosef, 'The generation of the Flood was not wiped out until they wrote marriage documents for the union of a man to a male or to an animal.'"--Genesis Rabbah 26:5; Leviticus Rabbah 23:9.
"Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yosef, 'The generation of the Flood was not wiped out until they wrote marriage documents for the union of a man to a male or to an animal.'"--Genesis Rabbah 26:5; Leviticus Rabbah 23:9.
"I know, we should have voted 'Yes' on Prop. 8. I guess we missed the boat on that one."
posted by The Kosher Hedgehog at 11:09 PM
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2 Comments:
Those verses are not in the Old Testament.
But then you probably believe Sodom was wiped out soley because of the gays too...
Thankfully many Jews understand what descrimination is like and how important it is to stand for freedoms and rights for all people.
Dear Pomoprophet:
My post clearly stated that I was quoting from Midrash, not from the Bible. Midrash is the traditional exposition of the Biblical text by the Jewish rabbinical sages of the Mishna and Talmud.
Neither the Torah, nor the Midrash say that either the Flood or the destruction of Sodom came about "solely because of the gays." Even the Midrash that I quoted cited marriage documents for men marrying men as the last straw, not the sole cause. (You really need to read more carefully.) Torah and Midrash cite violence and robbery as other precipitating causes, in addition to sexual immorality.
Incidentally, religious Jews such as me do not refer to the Jewish canonized books of the Bible as the "Old Testament," becaue for us there is no new testament.
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