Q&A: This Will Surely Make You Happy: It Has Been Discovered What Advantage Man Has Over Beast
This Will Surely Make You Happy: It Has Been Discovered What Advantage Man Has Over Beast
Answer
To tell the truth, purely by chance today while driving I heard the interview with him, and he actually spoke well and surprisingly moderately. And then suddenly he came out with this amusing analogy, which of course became the headline of the interview.
I really don’t understand how intelligent creatures manage to come up with arguments like these. Why can’t they just say that Jewish law forbids it, period. It seems to me everyone would understand that, even if they wouldn’t accept it. This is a particular case of the argument from naturalness. They declare that homosexuality is unnatural, and that seems to people like a winning argument. There, now we’ve shown even those who aren’t committed to Jewish law that it’s not okay. The opponents, of course, immediately protest and explain that it is natural (and implicitly accept the premise that whatever is natural is what is proper and right). Of course, nobody bothers to provide a criterion and define what “natural” means, or to ask whether being two meters tall is natural and whether that is proper/improper. And why on earth is what is natural correct, and what isn’t natural incorrect? Speaking malicious gossip is also very natural. It really is an infantile argument that comes up so often in these discussions, it’s amazing.
Discussion on Answer
That reminds me of Amnon Yitzhak’s sheep story, which I’m very fond of. The rabbi gets up early in the morning, slaughters a sheep, covers it with a prayer shawl in the middle of the city street, and begins to cry and bitterly wail over the righteous man who has passed away. The townspeople see the rabbi and join the mourning and the funeral procession. When they lower the “righteous man” into the grave and see who it is, they want to add the rabbi to it. But he doesn’t get flustered and explains to them: You always tell me that you don’t understand my rebukes, since you don’t hurt anyone, don’t murder, and don’t steal. Well, the sheep also didn’t hurt anyone and didn’t murder or steal (or speak malicious gossip). Reflect on that.
By the way, Rabbi Cherlow honestly said that the only problem he has with homosexuality is a halakhic one.
On Wikipedia, in the entry “Homosexuality in animals,” it is explained that homosexuality exists in certain percentages among pygmy chimpanzees, bonobo females, penguins, black swans, mallards, dolphins, and even… sheep!
As for us, we will keep the commandments of our Creator and not learn from sheep in this matter—when dealing with sheep… why should we bother? 🙂
With blessings, Shtzon, master of mockery, one of the younger sheep
Is Rabbi Levanon hinting that the union between Shaked and Bennett is in the way of beasts and therefore acceptable, unlike the union between Peretz and Bennett, which is not in the way of beasts?
Is this the way a person should choose for himself, one that brings honor to those who do it and honor to him from mankind? The way of beasts.
And it is a bit difficult, since it is written, “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death”—so why in this case are we not to learn from animals, who lie with animals?
Actually, there is no animal that speaks malicious gossip. “And man became a speaking spirit” that speaks malicious gossip. On the other hand, there is also no animal that puts on tefillin.