300 rabbis across Israel signed a letter in solidarity with Rabbi Levinstein despite referring to LGBT people as \’perverts;\’ Levinstein invited to clarify his comments at the defense ministry; Rabbis; \’We reject the attempt to shut the mouths of rabbis in Israel.\’
Hundreds of rabbis have come out in support for for the Religious-Zionist Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, the head of a distinguished IDF preparatory yeshiva found himself at the center of conrtoversy following comments labelling LGBT people ‘perverts.’
The Rabbis penned a letter which was published on Wednesday night stating: “There is no place for legitimizing these phenomena or this behavior which celebrates a lifestyle contrary to human morality and the path of the Torah.”
“The love toward every human being from Israel and the obligation to show respect to every person cannot be used as a reason to twist the religious truth or to cut corners regarding forbidden acts,” the rabbis wrote. “It is the duty of a rabbi in Israel to deal with all religious or moral matters in a clear fashion as teachers in Israel. In this vein, we reject the attempt to shut the mouths of rabbis in Israel,” the letter continued.
One of the people who initiated the petition said that he wanted to express his opposition for comments made by Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett who this week criticized Rabbi Levinstein and claimed that his remarks against the gay community did not represent religious Zionism.
“We find it difficult to understand how a politician – however talented – can take it on himself to exclude rabbis who have shaped religious Zionism for many years, who have educated thousands of students who have become role models.”