Orthodox Rabbi: Don’t Use the Bible to Pass Judgement on Others

Living in a college town like Columbus, Ohio means people tend to be open to many different viewpoints. It also means they are less likely to judge viewpoints that are different from her own.

It’s one of the reasons I moved back here.

It’s also, I assume, one of the reasons Rabbi Steven Greenberg is in town.

Greenberg, “America’s first openly gay Orthodox rabbi”, was here to give a sermon and speak at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on the OSU campus.

does a good job covering his visit and his message:

With a bit of characterization and Jewish witticism, Rabbi Steven Greenberg made his point clear: You shouldn’t use the Bible to pass judgment on others.

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He wasn’t saying that the Bible is not the revealed word of God. But according to Jewish tradition, he said, God gave that word to man and entrusted him to decipher it.

“No one can say, ‘It says in the Scripture,’ to ground any policy,” Greenberg said. “All we can say is, ‘My community says this.’ ”

After his sermon, he said it’s important for people who use the Bible to support their agendas to claim personal responsibility for their interpretation.

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That is important, he said, in the face of religious condemnation of homosexuality.

This makes a hell of a lot more sense than the crap we hear coming from a lot of Ohio’s wingnut pastors.

And, when it comes to proper interpretation of the Old Testament I’m going to trust the opinion of an Orthodox Rabbi instead of some chritofascist like Rod Parsley.