Statement From Torat Chayim Rabbinic Members
Condemning Gay Conversion Therapy
We, the undersigned Orthodox rabbis, applaud Rabbi Rafi Peretz’ retraction of his previous endorsement of “conversion therapy” as the correct course of action for gay individuals. He is certainly correct in stating that conversion therapy is “pasul v’hamur”—invalid and severe, reaffirming the broad consensus of medical professionals that this therapy is ineffective and is potentially harmful to the health of young homosexual patients. Rav Peretz should be commended for recognizing his initial error, having the humility to admit that he was wrong, and issuing his subsequent strong written retraction renouncing conversion therapy.
That this clear rejection of conversion therapy was made public by Rav Peretz, the present Minister of Education in Israel and a prominent leader in the national religious camp, testifies to the importance of alerting all Jews to the grave danger and unacceptability of conversion therapy for any person who seeks solutions for issues related to his or her sexual identity. It also highlights the powerful influence that rabbis and leaders have on their students, congregants and communities.
It is unfortunate that misunderstandings regarding conversion therapy are still popular among religious Jews in Israel, the United States, and elsewhere. These misunderstandings demonstrate that there still is a critical need to educate every community about the dangers of this therapy. We bring to the reader’s attention these words, written almost fifty years ago by Charles Silverstein, PhD, as part of the process of removing homosexuality as a diagnosis from the official Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Silverstein wrote:
To suggest that a person comes voluntarily to change his sexual orientation is to ignore the powerful environmental stress, oppression if you will, that has been telling him for years that he should change. To grow up in a family where the word "homosexual" was whispered, to play in a playground and hear the words "faggot" and "queer," to go to church and hear of "sin" and then to college and hear of "illness," and finally to the counseling center that promises to "cure," is hardly to create an environment of freedom and voluntary choice. [...] What brings them into the counseling center is guilt, shame, and the loneliness that comes from their secret.
As rabbinic leaders committed to Torah and halakhah, we recognize the enormous power we have in our relationships with our counselees or congregants. We also recognize in ourselves the strong tendency to step over the line and use our power in an immoral manner by pressuring individuals to do the “right thing” for their own benefit. Even an innocent and uninformed suggestion by a rabbi that conversion therapy might work constitutes a form of pressure to his counselee or congregant. This is especially true in light of the strong negative attitude toward homosexual individuals that still exists in many sectors of our Orthodox community, where many use our holy Torah to justify and rationalize insensitivity and even hatred.
When rabbis speak approvingly of conversion therapy, they may appear moderate and reasonable, but in truth the messages they convey are a grave danger to members of the observant gay community—Jews who suffer unbearable pain as they struggle to be faithful to their identity and halakhah at the same time. We Orthodox rabbis, who represent Torah and halakhah to our congregants, know that it is too easy for a gay individual in the midst of his struggle to misinterpret a comment by a rabbi about conversion therapy as a directive to seek it. This is particularly true of rabbis who are in positions of national or communal leadership.
The best scientific evidence today indicates that conversion therapy is not effective and is potentially harmful. The informed position of professionals and medical organizations around the world, including the former Israeli minister of health, Yael German, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association, as well as the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, is that conversion therapy is ineffective and harmful. It is because of this significant risk to the patient that conversion therapy is banned in many European countries and in many states in America.
Since many homosexual persons have higher rates of suicide and suicidal ideation, we, as rabbis, view this problem as an issue of life and death for young Jews. It is literally a matter of pikuach nefesh. The Torah commands all of us to safeguard the lives of every person, each created b’Tzelem Elokim, and we are prohibited by halakhah from dispensing any advice or adopting any policy that encourages depression and suicide.
Rabbis or other leaders who suggest that conversion therapy might work, regardless of motive, cross the line into religiously prohibited and immoral behavior. Those advocating such harm— even unintentionally—also engage in a public desecration of God’s name.
As rabbis, we believe that there is always a way for all individuals to be faithful to their identity in the fullest sense of the term, and also to live a life in conformance with halakha. Conversion therapy is neither a healthy nor an effective way for individuals to resolve that struggle, nor do we believe that it is responsible for any rabbi to suggest otherwise. We encourage all homosexual persons to seek rabbinic advisors who will honor and respect their individual situation ba’asher hu sham, who have sufficient self-knowledge to know when they are stepping over the line, and who can refer them to competent professionals in the field for help with any feelings of guilt, shame, or loneliness they experience as a result of negative societal attitudes toward homosexual individuals.
Rabbi Jehoschua Ahrens
Rabba Wendy Amsellem
Rabbi Elisha Ancselovits, Yadin Yadin, PhD
Rabbi Dr. David S. Bauman
Rabbanit Tali Schaum Broder
Rabbi Dr. Michael Chernick
Rabbi Max Davis
Rabbi Barry Dolinger
Rabbi Menashe East
Rabbanit Devorah Evron
Rabbi David Fain
Rabbi Dr. Zev Farber
Rabbi Dr. Reb Mimi Feigelson
Rabbanit Shlomit Flint
Rabbi Daniel Geretz
Rabbi David Glicksman
Rabbi Steve Golden
Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb
Rabbi Steven Greenberg
Rabbi Dr. Irving “Yitz” Greenberg
R. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy, PhD
Rabbi Ari Hart
Rabbi Tyson Herberger
Rabbi Avital Hochstein
Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe
Rabbi David Kalb
Rabbanit Rachel Keren
Rabbi Frederick Klein
Rabbi Yaakov Komisar
Rabbanit Oshra Koren
Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn
Rabbi Gabriel Kretzmer Seed
Rabbi Steven Langnas
Rabbi Daniel Landes
Rabbi Dr. Samuel Lebens
Rabbi Eryn London
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Rabbi Avram Mlotek
Rabbi Mike Moskowitz
Rabbi Dina Najman
Rabbi Marianne Novak
Rabbi Micha Odenheimer
Rabbi David Polsky
Rabbi Avi Poupko
Rabbi Dr. David Rosen
Rabbi Isaac Sassoon
Rabbi Aaron Shub
Rabbi Garth Silberstein
Rabbi Ami Silver
Rabbi Yair Silverman
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
Rabbi Dr. Alan Yuter