Can you be Jewish and gay? Interview with Rabbi Haim Fabrizio Cipriani

Interview by Jonathan Bazzi with Rabbi Haim Fabrizio Cipriani published on the site Gay.it on September 1, 2016

Most traditional cultures and religions, especially monotheistic ones, have an age-old problem with LGBT identity. We often hear about the relationship between homosexuality and Christianity and the relationship between homosexuality and Islam is also starting to be a rather frequent topic in the media. Less frequently, however, are narratives, reflections and clarifications on how Judaismhe has seen and sees the homoaffective and homosexual identity.

We then decided to ask some questions to reform-oriented rabbi Haim Fabrizio Cipriani. Member of the Rabbinical Assemblies and rabbinical courts of the Massorti/Conservative and Reform/Progressive Jewish movements, from 2006 to 2013 he was rabbi of the Jewish community Lev Chadash ofMilanand Rome and since 2012 he has carried out his rabbinical ministry also in the Massorti/Conservative community ofMarseillesand the Reform Jewish community of Montpellier. In Italy he is the community's rabbiEtz Haim.

Come molte altre culture religiose tradizionali, l’ebraismo non è noto per la sua accettazione verso gli omosessuali. Qual è la situazione effettiva in questo senso?

La situazione è estremamente fluida e variabile. Si va da atteggiamenti di aperta condanna ad altri di tolleranza e apertura.

Nei testi sacri e della tradizione quali sono i passi che condannano l’omosessualità?

Il locus classicus è Levitico 18:22 “E con un maschio non ti sdraierai come ti sdrai con una donna, è inaccettabile”.

Ci sono stati casi di ebrei omosessuali famosi nella storia dell’ebraismo?

Non che io sappia, ma nella narrazione biblica la relazione fra il re Davide e il suo amico Yonatan ha fatto discutere molto.

Che differenza c’è visione ortodossa e progressista per quanto riguarda l’omosessualità?

Tracciare una linea netta è difficile, perché i principi religiosi non sempre si armonizzano con il sentire dei diversi attori. Di conseguenza esistono atteggiamenti di grande apertura in alcuni ambienti ortodossi, ma anche di grande chiusura in ambienti molto progressisti, quindi tutto è molto trasversale. Certamente in ambito progressista c’è una maggiore volontà di rispetto dell’intimità degli individui. Per questo nelle correnti progressiste alcuni celebrano anche cerimonie fra coppie LGBT.

Un omosessuale può convertirsi all’ebraismo ortodosso? E a quello progressista?

In the Orthodox field it would be impossible, except clearly hiding one's emotional identity and making a double life (taking advantage of a certain "myopia" by the rabbed, or with its silent complicity, both these cases are relatively common for what I have been able to observe ), which some do. In the progressive field it is common thing, because more freedom is left to the individual, especially in such intimate spheres.

How did Rabbi have met homosexual Jews? Have you collected particularly important stories about the double Jewish-Gay identity?

I meet regularly. And I often listened to stories of difficulty, where people felt as impossible a conciliation between Jewish identity and their being, conciliation they wanted but that seemed impossible. It seems to me that this should not be, because every time we give up an important part of our identity, we lose a lot, and the others with us.

How do you explain the great freedom of the LGBT community in Israel?

With the fact that Israel is a true democracy, animated, pluralistic, authentically open and progressive.

Do you think they will change things for orthodoxy in the future?

It will be difficult, you can perhaps have greater acceptance and tolerance for individuals, with less judgment and more respect, which would already be a good thing.

For those interested in contacting the rabbi for more information, this is its website: http://haim.cipriani.free.fr/