Judah Macabee: Homophobe

In view of the recent stirred debates on gay marriages in the United States, I want to share an article by a dear friend of mine, Philip Lefkowitz, Rabbi of the congregation Agudat Achim in Chicago.

Dear haverim,

I am not trying to preach or impress you by my writing skills. I share the following as I believe that gay marriage is a "blessing and a curse" placed before us. A blessing because it affords us the opportunity to make American Jewry look at their own reflection in the mirror. A curse as, if we don't deal with it in a manner to change the mindset of American Jewry, it marks yet another step toward its collective demise.

Phil Lefkowitz

Judah Macabee: Homophobe

Plato said, “Homosexuality is regarded as shameful by Barbarians and by those who live under despotic governments just as philosophy is regarded as shameful by them, because it is apparently not in the interest of such rulers to have great ideas engendered in their subjects, or powerful friendships or passionate love; all of which homosexuality is particularly apt to produce.” and Plutarch said, “The noble lover of beauty engages in love wherever he sees excellence and splendid natural endowment without regard for any difference in physiological detail.”

Statistics evaluating American Jewish religious expression show that the Jewish observance most practiced in the United States is the lighting of Hanukkah candles. Hanukkah commemorates and celebrates the miraculous victory of Judah Macabee, his family and small group of followers who, repulsed by the decree from Antiochus IV to place a statue of Zeus in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem – the center of Monotheism –, mounted a guerrilla war against the Hellenized Syrian-Mesopotamian Empire then in control of ancient Israel.

Considering the support of so many Jews for gay marriage in America, one wonders how they can celebrate Hanukkah. For today many would label Judah, his family, the Hasmoneans, and their followers as homophobes. Yes, homophobes. Let me explain. The Jewish world of the Macabees was completely swallowed up by Hellenism. Assimilated by the Greek philosophy of life and its emphasis upon the worship of the physical, as opposed to spiritual development, young Jewish men began to work out in the nude on the courtyards of the Temple Mount. In an attempt to hide the “deformity” inflicted upon their well-toned “Grecian” physiques by their parents through the rite of circumcision, they would employ various techniques to disguise this Jewish “mutilation”. Of course, Greek names and life style had become the norm for the Jews of that time. Now there are those, in discussing the contemporary challenge presented by assimilation, who compare American Jewry to the Hellenized Jewish world of the Macabees.

As the quotes from Plato and Plutarch demonstrate, not only was homosexuality widely engaged in by Hellenistic societies, but aslo embraced by the Hellenized Jews in the time of the Macabees, and it was lauded as a valuable element in the development of a “sophisticated” society. As Plato states, it is the Barbarian and the dictator that seek to stifle homosexual expression. Plutarch reminds us all of the fascination the Hellenists had for the physical body, arbitrarily equating love with sexual expression, by engaging with individuals of “special natural endowment”, either male or female, in stark contrast to Judaism which views love as a manifestation far more transcending than a temporary physical encounter.

The Macabees, the Hassidim of their age, were those who as a minority maintained Jewish observance and values in the face of a Jewish world possessed by an alien culture and pagan beliefs. The Macabees, unlike Plato, were repulsed by the rampant and open sexual promiscuity among the Jewry of their days, which included homosexuality, seeing it as leading to the destruction of the great Temple of Jewish thought and spiritual purity exemplified by the observance of the Torah and its Commandments. And when the fortress of Judaism was breached, when the Temple was defiled and rededicated as a pagan shrine to Zeus, in spite of their small numbers the Macabees realized that there was no alternative but to take to the hills and fight to the death for their Jewish beliefs with the call to arms: “Whoever is for the L-rd follow me!”

We live in a confused Jewish world where that which is rejected by Judaism is now an expression of Jewish values, as represented by the recent remark of the President of the National Jewish Democratic Council that gay marriage is a step forward in the important endeavor of Tikun Olam, the bringing of balance and perfection to the physical world through G-d’s Commandments. How could this have happened? May I suggest that we live with faulty Jewish mathematics? One of the major equations used in Jewish life today states: A Jewish position on a given issue equals the opinion of the majority of Jews. 

If we truly believe this equation, if we believe that Jewish views are determined by the majority of Jews, then as the title of this article states, there is no doubt that Judah Macabee was a homophobe. For, was he not battling and risking his life and the life of his followers against a superior and well armed force to reinstate the values of Judaism in Jewish society? Unlike the majority of the Jews of his day who echoed the sentiments of Plato and Plutarch, he saw in the expression of sexuality beyond the sacred bond of marriage between man and woman, a violation of G-d’s Divine law. He would give no quarter to such immoral behavior. He was what nowadays some would call a fanatic, a veritable “Bible thumper” in his day. And yet, we Jews embrace the victory of the Macabees, their rise to both Kingship and Priesthood, their restoring the values of G-d, as something to celebrate: Hanukkah as the Jewish celebration embraced by more Jews than any other in our religious lexicon.

In 1885 the leaders of the Reform Movement met in Pittsburgh to define their sense of Judaism. They issued the “Pittsburgh Platform” now understood as the encapsulation of classical Reform Judaism. In part it states: “Second- We recognize in the Bible the record of the consecration of the Jewish people to its mission as priests of the one true God, and value it as the most potent instrument of religious and moral instruction. Third- (…) today we accept as binding only the moral laws, and maintain only such ceremonies as to elevate and sanctify our lives, but reject all such as not adapted to the views and habits of modern civilization.” By endorsing gay marriage most American Jews have parted company with this liberal expression of Judaism.

As classical Reform Judaism declares that “record of the consecration of the Jewish people to its mission as priests of the one true God”, that “most potent instrument of religious and moral instruction”, in today’s terms that ancient yet eternal Jewish “Rules for Radicals”, the Bible teaches us in the book of Leviticus that, “If a man lies with a man as with a woman both of them have committed an abomination.”, “You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.” 

In the book of Isaiah we read, “It is too light a thing for you [Jews] to be My servants, to establish the Tribes of Jacob, and to restore the scions of Israel; and I shall submit you as a light unto the nations, to be My redemption until the end of the Earth. (...) I the L-ord have called unto you in righteousness, and have taken hold of your hand, and submitted you as the people's Covenant, as a light unto the nations. (...) And unto your light, nations shall walk, and kings unto the brightness of your rising”.

Something to think about.

Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz - Congregation Agudat Achim of Chicago.

Hanukah and the Light of Redemption

Let's reflect on two things that are apparently unrelated but their common denominator is that both challenge our understanding. One is the first Commandment that the Creator gives to Israel in its birth as a Nation, the consecration of the New Moon as the beginning of the months, and Nissan as the first of them in which Israel's freedom began. The other is Final Redemption as predicted by our Prophets.

We may question why we start the months with the New Moon and not with the Full Moon, by arguing that we can begin with fully revealed light and end also with full light after fading into darkness and later emerging to total brightness. However, our Creator commands us to start the months when the Moon is completely dark. Sages of the Chassidic tradition teach us one of the most complex principles related to this matter, and we must break the limits of discernment to fully assimilate it. Actually, it is one of the many Jewish mystic principles that we can only grasp beyond human understanding, such as concentric circles or spheres that at the same time are separated from each other. How can they separate if they are contained within each other? This is an example to guide our mind to assimilate beyond its limits of reasoning. The principle that Chassidim bring up is that concealed light is more powerful or intense than revealed light, based on the premise that what we don't know or are about to know is more important than what we already know. Algebra is more useful than Arithmetic, Calculus is more important than Trigonometry, and the less relevant is the basic knowledge to assimilate the most relevant. Hence, what we are about to know is more transcendent than what we already know.

Likewise, we are taught in Elementary School that the light of the sun becomes more intense during a total eclipse, and we must not watch it because the stronger light may damage our eyes. This occurrence may not explain clearly how is it possible that there is more light from an eclipsed sun than a normal sun, for in our sight there is more light in the normal sun. Astrophysics may explain the issue but still in our eyes we perceive it differently. Quantum physics also explains parallel planes and other phenomena that a simple mind can't understand, and we either believe it or not. All these references invite us to expand our simple minds beyond their presumed borders, and in this regard our ancient Sages knew better and explain that the New Moon is the non-revealed light that we are commanded to reveal. This means that we as individuals are moons whose light are partially revealed, and we are to become aware of our full light when there is apparently none. They consequently say that in darkness we look for the Light because in darkness it is concealed with all its intensity, as we have never seen it before as the light that we already know. This is why they say that in the darkness of exile we must reveal the Light of Redemption. In this sense darkness as exile is the precondition to Light as Redemption.

How do we know that in our darkest moments the most powerful Light is concealed? We can simply say that darkness is what it is, and light is just absent in it. The problem is that with this approach there is no chance for Redemption. This brings us to reflect in a broader understanding, starting with who we are, what we are, and what is our true Essence and identity. In the dynamics of identity we solve all our confusions, and we begin with the "reason" of the entire Creation, its cause and effect, and the Creator behind it. He is the intense Light "concealed" behind what we see eclipsed or dark with our eyes, the New Moon that we are commanded to consecrate as the beginning of the months, as the beginning of everything.

Exile as darkness is the current state of affairs that we suffer when we choose to live under the negative aspects of consciousness that impose individual interests at the expense of the collective well being. Our oral tradition tells that in the plague of darkness prior to the Exodus from Egypt, four fifths of the Israelite people died because they couldn't "see" beyond their own personal material interests. Only 20% chose to look after each other amid the darkest circumstances, by loving each other and caring for each other. Only those were later exempt from the final plague of the firstborn and taken out from their slavery in Egypt. From them we must learn that Love is our true and only Redeemer when we live in the darkness of ego's fantasies and illusions. God's Love is the hidden Light that creates and sustains His Creation, as our Love is also the concealed Light that sustains us and liberates us from our darkest moments. Every negative situation that we face is dissipated when Love manifests fully as the most intense Light behind darkness.

Maimonides quotes the words of the Prophet (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 12:5): "In those times there will be no famine or war, envy or rivalry; for goodness will flow in abundance and delights will be freely available. Everyone will be totally engaged in the knowledge of God, as it is written: 'For the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea' (Isaiah 11:9)'." Can we expand our mind and consciousness to be able to conceive the material world without hunger, conflicts, greed, coveting, jealousy, lust, indolence and hatred? Maimonides follows up with goodness in abundance as the answer, and all goodness come from Love. He also points out the cause of the goodness in his next sentence, because our goodness is the result of our total engagement in the knowledge of the Creator.

Now we may be able to discern the connection between the consecration of the New Moon and our Final Redemption. Let's summarize: Darkness as exile leads us to freedom as Redemption when we are guided by the strong Hand of the Creator, which is His Love, and we emulate Him with our Love for each other. The New Moon is the remembrance that unrevealed Light is more powerful than revealed Light, hence we are commanded and compelled to acknowledge that God's Love precedes His Creation. We overcome darkness as the negative aspects of consciousness when we enthrone Love as the Light that clears negativity through the goodness of Love's ways and attributes. Finally, we live in abundant goodness when we engage completely in the knowledge of God's Love as the cause and effect of His Creation, and also as our true Essence and identity.

In Hanukah we light up eight candles in the darkest days of the year around the Winter solstice. We learned that in the darkest moments the most intense Light is waiting to revealed, and that is the Light of Redemption. We reveal this Light in each of the seven days that represent God's Creation of Heaven and Earth, plus an additional eighth day that symbolizes our permanent unity with Him, in which the ultimate Redemption takes place, the day when it is completely revealed with all the intensity of His Light.

We can conclude that our limited intellect and discernment still can't grasp how light may be concealed in darkness, but one thing we can assimilate without difficulty and it is Love as the most powerful Light capable to transform anything negative into something good, because Love is the source of goodness, as God's Love is the source of His Creation and the sustenance of all life. The New Moon and Hanukah are reminders that we have to enlighten our lives every day until we reach out to the day when our Light and God's Light become One, and our Love and His Love are One. This is the moment when we are totally engaged in knowing our Creator.