Who can forget New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino’s recent homophobic screed delivered to an Orthodox Jewish congregation:

“I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option — it isn’t.”

Paladino was not only invited to speak by the congregation’s leader, Rabbi Yehuda Levin, but the rabbi also claims to have written Paladino’s lovely speech.  Then after Paladino’s weak “apology”, Rabbi Levin withdrew support for Paladino, who he accused of ‘pandering to “left-wing militant gay agenda”‘.

Behind the scenes some of my Jewish colleagues were saying the same thing I hear from so many gay-friendly Christian clergy: “He doesn’t represent us!  Why are the anti-gay clergy getting all the press?!”.  The answer seems pretty obvious to me: those who seek to make public statements get the press.  Too frequently gay-friendly clergy seem to hang back and let their anti-gay counterparts step forward and do all the public speaking.  (There are some highly notable exceptions.)  So it was with great pleasure that I read this moving Op-Ed “There’s no place for bullying in God’s world” written by the Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Steven Burg.

Update: I had originally posted an excerpt of the Op-Ed, but Rabbi Burg has since kindly given me permission to reproduce it in full here.

I was saddened to hear of the death of Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old college student driven to suicide by bullying over his sexual orientation. While Clementi’s case has grabbed national headlines, it is, unfortunately, far from unique.

In September alone, no fewer than six boys in America committed suicide as a response to bullying they suffered over their sexual identities. Several victims were as young as 13.

Bullying is nothing new, but modern technology has caused it to explode in new and dangerous ways. In Clementi’s case, intimate moments were webcast. Other teens are humiliated routinely via social networks. It takes no effort whatsoever to send a tweet, post a video or write on a virtual wall.

In the old days, bullies could usually only harass their intended victims live and in person. Nowadays, a teen can be abused and publicly denigrated remotely and often anonymously.

Such cases are not limited to boys; nor are they limited to situations pertaining to the victims’ sexuality. Three girls are awaiting trial in Massachusetts for their role in harassing a classmate to the point of suicide. Even when situations do not reach the point of suicide as a perceived means of escape, bullying lowers self-esteem, and can lead to depression and anxiety.

It is unacceptable to harass or bully anyone for any reason. It makes no difference what a person’s race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or country of origin happens to be. A person’s income or social status is immaterial. We are all created in the image of God, and as such, the Torah demands that we extend common courtesy to one another.

Our responsibility goes even further in the case of the downtrodden and oppressed, insisting that we guard ourselves very carefully so as not to add to their troubles through our words and actions. (Causing pain to a widow, an orphan or a convert are particularly heinous acts under Torah law.)

Rabbi Akiva famously said in Leviticus 19:18 that the primary principle of the Torah is “love your neighbor as yourself.” However, the Sifra (a book of the Midrash) immediately follows that statement with what it considers to be an even more important principle: The sage Ben Azzai cites in Genesis 5:1, “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” The verse means that we all are descended from the same ancestors, Adam and Eve.

As important as the verse cited by Rabbi Akiva is, it’s too easy for us to justify hating others because they are not our “neighbor”; that is, they are not like us. Ben Azzai’s verse reminds us that black or white, rich or poor, straight or gay, Jewish, Christian or Muslim, we are ultimately one family — the family of mankind.

Hate and fear of that which is different is not something we’re born with; it’s something acquired. (The beautiful Rodgers and Hammerstein song, “You’ve Got to Be Taught,” in “South Pacific,” sends out that message.) Therefore, I implore all parents, teachers and other role models to actively encourage an environment of tolerance.

This doesn’t mean that we have to agree with every decision that others may make in life. We may disagree with others’ theologies or lifestyles. But disagreement is not a license to abuse others. A child, a teen or an adult who harasses another person, verbally or physically, is automatically in the wrong.

At NCSY, the Orthodox Union youth program, we have adopted strict policies against acts of malice and aggression. All of our regions across North America are being instructed to have sessions on bullying. The Midwest region, based in Chicago, already has announced an anti-bullying program at its fall regional convention this weekend in Kansas City.

Unwelcome attention and a hostile environment are unacceptable, regardless of the source. We all have the right to live free of intimidation. If we have legitimate differences of opinion with another person regarding religion, politics or other areas in which debate may be valid, that calls for thoughtful discussion and mutual respect.

I call upon parents, educators, clergy and all others who work with youth to join us in a zero-tolerance policy for bullying in all its forms, including cyberbullying. Not only will this save young lives from being needlessly thrown away, it will ensure a safer and healthier environment for our children.

Rabbi Steven Burg is the international director of NCSY, the youth program of the Orthodox Union.

The Op-Ed was published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency which I’m told is sort of like the AP for Jewish publications worldwide.  It is also currently featured on the main web page of Rabbi Burg’s employer NCSY, the youth program of the Orthodox Union.  So while it unfortunately wasn’t distributed with non-Jewish audiences in mind as have been the vicious words of Rabbi Levin, it was nevertheless broadcast via an international news service.

What is clear when reading this piece is that Rabbi Burg’s audience is primarily his own religious community and he is speaking in terms presumably meaningful to them.  Orthodox Judaism too infrequently shows a gay-tolerant side, and the Op-Ed demonstrates the very careful threading of the needle necessary for conservative religionists to negotiate a way to treat their queer members with humanity.  It brought to mind a post I wrote in January about the introduction of a curriculum into the private schools of the Calvinistic Reformed Church in the Netherlands.  The goal of the curriculum is to teach empathy and respect for gays.

Like the Orthodox Jews, the Calvinistic Reformed Church teaches that homosexuality is a sin on par with murder.  Both sects will be challenged with the problem of reconciling uncompromising scriptural prohibitions with the present-day appreciation of the right of gays to live full human lives just like anyone else.  I wonder, are we witnessing the beginnings of a change amongst some orthodox Jews & Christians in the interpretation of the “unchanging” Torah/Bible on the issue of sexual orientation?