Let's Settle the Whole "LGBTQ Thing" Once and for All, Shall We?

ערב שבת קודש פר׳ שלח-לך תשע״ד

The Rainbow Kippah: A Gay Pride Symbol?
Or Just an Allusion to the Rainbow in the Torah?

A buddy of mine posted a criticism of the use of the rainbow symbol by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning [LBGTQ] community, believing that the rainbow was given to all, and not just for one community to take it for its own.

He did so, without condemning the LBGTQ community, and without condemning nor demonizing individuals with different wants and desires.

However, he was very clear...

"You can't have the rainbow."

Here is the comment I left...

Kol HaKavod! Nicely said. Men can show love and affection for one another, and experience intimacy. But, this can be frightening for us because we have always been taught in Western exile that if we feel this way, then there is something wrong with us, or on the other hand, than we are supposed to add a sexual component to the relationship. Neither are true! The Torah forbids certain sexual interactions between certain people,...but not love.

Meanwhile, someone left a comment via Google+ on my piece Gay Scandal in the K'nesseth?!

David's praise in 2 Samuel 1:26 for Jonathan's 'love' (for him) over the 'love' of women is considered evidence for same-sex attraction, along with Saul's exclamation to his son at the dinner table, "I know you have chosen the son of Jesse - 

To which I responded with the following Esser Agaroth (2¢)...

Evidence? No, I am afraid not. An hypothesis to attempt to support? Sure why not. I'll cut to the chase. א-ה-ב certainly is not indicative of any same sex attraction, let alone sexual relationship. In fact, sometimes it can also indicate an alliance, such in the case of...

  וַיִּשְׁלַח חִירָם מֶלֶךְ-צוֹר אֶת-עֲבָדָיו, אֶל-שְׁלֹמֹה, כִּי שָׁמַע, כִּי אֹתוֹ מָשְׁחוּ לְמֶלֶךְ תַּחַת אָבִיהוּ: כִּי אֹהֵב, הָיָה חִירָם לְדָוִד--כָּל-הַיָּמִים. מְלָכִים א ה,טו

And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father; for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
I Kings 5:15

I am not sure what kind of perspective and education you are coming from. However, I have found that such statements are often made due to the ignoring of Torah sheb'al Peh. Yet both the Written Torah and Oral Torah can only function together,...though many have tried.

Well, I am sure that we have not heard the last of this topic, what it means, what it doesn't mean, what it's implications are, what it's implications aren't.

The bottom line that we may feel one way, and believe that these feelings being counter to Torah. The Torah belongs to all Jews. So, don't run away and don't make excuses for ceasing to keep misswoth (Torah Commandments). Instead, meet your challenges, whatever they are, and keep your part of the Torah.

No need to water it down or pretend that the Oral Torah isn't what it is, or perhaps even doesn't exist (God Forbid!). This is simply not an option, unless you prefer to remain in a numbed out state of Galuth (exile), disconnected from your people, your only true homeland, and their Holiness, as it says,...

קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ: ויקרא יט,ב,

You shall be Holy. Leviticus 19:2

"They," whoever "they" are, may have hijacked the rainbow, but we will always have "Seinfeld."

The following clip is from the "Not That There's Anything Wrong With It" episode.