The chief rabbi of Amsterdam, Aryeh Ralbag, was suspended in January for signing a document stating that homosexuality is “treatable” and that one can be “healed” from it. Though he was eventually reinstated after apologizing to the community, the episode does provide an opportunity to consider exactly what the traditional Orthodox view on homosexuality is, and whether Ralbag was really saying anything all that scandalous.
Whether homosexuality is fixed or changeable remains an open question. There are well-informed people on either side of the issue, but as of yet no incontrovertible proof of a “gay gene.” Whether the Jewish religious tradition is fixed or changeable, however, is not arguable — at least not for Torah-loyal Jews.
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