בחסדי השם when I learn and teach Torah I experience tremendous שמחה. פקודי ד' ישרים משמחי לב; תורתך שעשעי. Not so tonight. I speak with a palpable sense of sadness and pain, anguish and difficulty.
בס"ד ב"נ we are going to speak about issues, not people. Those who have been and are the architects of and approve Y.U.'s response to the gay pride litigation are individuals of integrity: their commitment to Torah is absolute, they obviously regard homosexual behavior, same sex marriages, transgender surgeries, and other sexual deviances as categorically prohibited, their intentions are לשם שמים.
A חלול השם has been and is unfolding at Y.U.
What does the odious acronym LGBTQ represent? I'm not inquiring as to its literal, semantic meaning, rather its actual meaning within its cultural context. The moniker LGBTQ embraces and celebrates sexually deviant behaviors which are anathema to the Torah; in adopting this acronym people self-identify by celebrating behaviors, lifestyles and values which brazenly and defiantly reject divine morality. They openly defy הקב"ה. The acronym reflects a nihilistic philosophy - a philosophy which rejects divine morality for its "alternate morality"; which denies the objective reality of זכר ונקבה ברא אותם and substitutes its non-binary and transgenderism lunacy, which offers את זכר תשכב משכבי אשה as an alternative to ודבק באשתו, etc.
A failure to grasp the actual, cultural meaning of the LGBTQ acronym can have catastrophic, unintended spiritual consequences. Is it conceivable that Y.U. would allow a club entitled מלעיגים על דברי חכמים or כופרים בתורה, albeit under rabbinic supervision? Just by virtue of its nomenclature the existence of such a club would constitute a חלול השם. It should be equally unimaginable that Y.U. would have a club for LGBTQ students. The oxymoronic reality that such a club is officially sanctioned at Y.U. constitutes a חלול השם. Moreover, how can we expect the outside world not to be confused? How can we expect people to comprehend that we do not have a gay club (and, in fact, we do not) when Y.U. itself speaks of a club for LGBTQ? Would anyone understand how a kashrus symbol can appear on a product labeled pork?
חלול השם is a function not only of reality but also of perception. Rambam writes that avoiding even the appearance of apostasy demands martyrdom.
No dividend can legitimize the חלול השם of a club for LGBTQ or any other חלול השם.
We live at a moment in history when divine morality is constantly attacked and maligned. Case in point: the Torah's sexual ethics are branded homophobic, ר"ל. How are we to react?
We need to unapologetically and unabashedly affirm our beliefs. This cannot be accomplished by expressing a general commitment to Halacha. In the surreal reality, which is ours, people brazenly demand recognition as Orthodox Jews while living openly homosexual lives. They heretically seek and demand validation for sexual deviances as reflected in the LGBTQ acronym, thereby seeking to redefine halachic commitment. At this moment we need to explicitly detail the authentic halachic commitment.
What do we believe? We do not, ח"ו, discriminate based upon involuntary sexual orientation. We believe that we should respectfully, lovingly and empathetically support all Jews in their efforts to live authentic Jewish lives.
We also believe in the eternal truth that ואת זכר לא תשכב משכבי אשה תועבה היא>male homosexual relations are abominable and categorically prohibited.
We believe that כמעשה ארץ מצרים אשר ישבתם בה לא תעשו, the practices of ancient Egyptian society were the most degenerate. They practiced lesbianism. Additionally, ומה היו עושים? איש נושא לאיש ואשה לאשה. They also entered same sex marriages, a behavior which epitomizes their sheer and ultimate degeneracy.
We further believe that ובארצכם לא תעשו, that castration (in any form, including, of course, transgender surgery) is categorically prohibited, etc.
We need to clearly, explicitly and unabashedly affirm all these beliefs. Not every דרשה should begin with these explicit affirmations, but neither should we retreat, never explicitly stating our beliefs.
We must not, ר"ל, soften or water down the Torah's formulations or hide behind vapid, intentionally non-specific professions of adherence to traditional values. In so doing we, ר"ל, censor הקב"ה. That too constitutes a חלול השם.
It is undeniably true that in the confused, perverted world of 5785 some people will be offended by our candid affirmations. They may refuse to support us in other areas. We obviously welcome genuine friendship and support. Nonetheless, that refusal is of no consequence. הקב"ה has not authorized us to engage in horse trading, to understate the Torah's sexual ethics in exchange for support in other areas. רוח והצלה יעמד ליהודים ממקום אחר, not thru feckless formulations.
I conclude with a quote from רבן של ישראל, the Rov זצללה"ה. "We must remember that an ethical or Halachic principle decreed by God is not rendered void by the fact that the people refuse to abide by it. Its cogency and veracity are perennial and independent of compliance on the part of the multitudes. If the ethical norm, Thou shalt not kill (Exodus 20:13), has not lost its validity during the days of extermination camps and gas chambers, when millions of people were engaged in ruthless murder, but on the contrary, has been impregnated with deeper meaning and significance, then every Halachic maxim assumes greater import in times of widespread disregard and unconcern. The greater the difficulty, the more biting the ridicule and sarcasm, and the more numerous the opponent - then the holier is the principle, and the more sacred is our duty to defend it."
May הקב"ה guide and bless us to always be מקדשי שמו ברבים.
Mayer E. Twersky
28 Adar, 5785
Editor's note: the audio of Rav Twersky's oral remarks, which this is essay is his official write-up of, can be found at track #10 here
Second editor's note: a follow up schmooze given/written by Rav Twersky can be found here