Sermon on Amendment 2
by Rabbi Merrill Shapiro
Temple Beth Shalom
Palm Coast, Florida
While many Rabbis and leaders of our Jewish communities are, at this election season, trotting out the Halacha (Jewish laws) related to homosexuality, there is a genuine fear that they have succumbed to evil described in Leviticus 19:14, where the Torah tells us, “Thou shall not curse the deaf nor put a stumbling block before the blind!”
It is this stricture that is perhaps as relevant, if not more relevant, to the current choice voters in Florida will make with regard to the Ballot Issue and Proposed Constitutional Amendment 2 that we’ll all discover at our polling places on November 4th. Many are blind to the fact that this issue is not about homosexuality or even the definition of marriage, but about something far more sinister.
The Talmudic tractate (the corpus of rabbinic law perhaps 15 centuries old or older) of Gittin tells the story of a man wanted to throw a party for all his friends, so he drew up a guest list and instructed his servant to send out the invitations. One of the men on the guest list was named “Kamtza,” but the servant made a mistake and invited “Bar Kamtza” instead. Oops — Bar Kamtza was actually a sworn enemy of the host!
When Bar Kamtza received his invitation, he was very grateful to think that the host had finally made amends. But when Bar Kamtza showed up at the party, the host took one look and told his servant to immediately eject Bar Kamtza from the premises.
When asked to leave, Bar Kamtza said, “I understand the mistake. But it’s embarrassing for me to leave the party. I’ll gladly pay the cost of my meal if you’ll allow me to stay.”
The host would hear nothing of this, and reiterated his demand to have Bar Kamtza removed.
Bar Kamtza appealed again: “I’d even be willing to pay half the cost of the entire party, if only I’d be allowed to stay.”
Again the request was denied. At which point, the distraught Bar Kamtza pleaded, “I’ll pay for the entire party! Just please don’t embarrass me in this way!”
The host, however, stuck to his guns and threw Bar Kamtza out. The rabbis who had observed this exchange did not protest, and Bar Kamtza took this to mean that they approved of the host’s behavior.
The Talmud reports that Bar Kamtza was so hurt and upset, that he went straight to the Roman authorities and gave slanderous reports of disloyal behavior among the Jews. This fueled the Romans’ anger, and they proceeded to attack and destroy the Holy Temple.
Thus it was Sinat Chinam, causeless hatred, of Bar Kamtza by the host of the party that led to the destruction of the Holy Temple and our exile for more than 2000 years!
The appearance of a proposal to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman within the Constitution of the State of Florida is not a reason to look to the laws of homosexuality, but rather of Sinat Chinam, of causeless hatred, in this case, the causeless hatred of homosexuals by the proponents of this amendment.
You see, this proposal will not change the State of Florida one bit! It accomplishes absolutely nothing! For Florida Statues 741.212, titled, “Marriages between persons of the same sex,” already provides that:
(1) Marriages between persons of the same sex entered into in any jurisdiction, whether within or outside the State of Florida, the United States, or any other jurisdiction, either domestic or foreign, or any other place or location, or relationships between persons of the same sex which are treated as marriages in any jurisdiction, whether within or outside the State of Florida, the United States, or any other jurisdiction, either domestic or foreign, or any other place or location, are not recognized for any purpose in this state.
(2) The state, its agencies, and its political subdivisions may not give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any state, territory, possession, or tribe of the United States or of any other jurisdiction, either domestic or foreign, or any other place or location respecting either a marriage or relationship not recognized under subsection (1) or a claim arising from such a marriage or relationship.
(3) For purposes of interpreting any state statute or rule, the term “marriage” means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the term “spouse” applies only to a member of such a union.
Thus, the proposed constitutional amendment is not about making certain that same-sex marriage is prohibited. Further, the proponents of this constitutional amendment are generally opposed to more government regulation, want to see governance reduced not increased, want to see our Florida Constitution simplified, not made more complex.
No, this is about Sinat Chinam, causeless hatred of people created in the image of the Almighty. Some simply call it “Gay-Bashing.” Whatever its name, shame on all of us if we allow causeless hatred to echo through our State, to issue forth in our communities, to flourish in our neighborhoods. No marriage is threatened by same-sex marriage. If the proponents of this constitutional amendment wish to protect marriage, they might make it more difficult to get married in Florida or create powerful incentives not to divorce. Ask yourself if passage of this amendment is what our Creator wants of us!
Deuteronomy 16:20 is the source of a most unique Mitzvah, a most unique commandment. The text tells us, “Justice, justice you shall pursue!” Note that each of us is required to fulfill the demands of the commandments in the appropriate time. We are to honor Shabbat on the Seventh Day, eat Matzah on Passover, circumcise our sons on their eighth days, observe Kashrut, our dietary laws, whenever we eat. But justice has no allotted time. We are not to wait for the opportunity to do justice, but rather we are to pursue justice. We must go forth into the world and seek out the injustices that, like the blood of the murdered Abel, “cry out to us from the ground.” And then we must make them right!
Please do not fail to make this injustice right. You simply cannot go to the polls on November 4th and vote No on issue 2. You must tell your family, your friends, your neighbors, your community. Do not let the forces of injustice prevail!
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