A number of leading rabbis who signed on to a religious ruling to forbid renting homes to gentiles \u2013 a move particularly aimed against Arabs [with Israeli citizenship] \u2013 defended their decision on Tuesday with the declaration that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews.<\/p>\n
\u2026\u201dWe don\u2019t need to help Arabs set down roots in Israel,\u201d Rabbi Shlomo Aviner of the Beit El settlement, said on Tuesday. Aviner explained that he supported the move for two reasons: one, a Jew looking for an apartment should get preference over a gentile; and two, to keep the growing Arab population from settling too deeply.<\/p>\n
\u201cRacism originated in the Torah,\u201d said Rabbi Yosef Scheinen, who heads the Ashdod Yeshiva. \u2026[A]nd that is what the [sage] Rashi interpreted.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I can\u2019t argue with the good rabbi one bit.\u00a0 Rashi did teach that.\u00a0 Repeatedly.\u00a0 I keep saying that the Torah is not and should not be our source of morality.\u00a0 And what do I get for my honesty?\u00a0 A lot of blather about how wonderful Torah values are and how I should accord them more respect.<\/p>\n
And I keep repeating:\u00a0 It\u2019s Jewish mythology.\u00a0 It\u2019s endlessly fascinating.\u00a0 It\u2019s no moral guide.<\/p>\n
Well, the next time I\u2019m asked why I reject the bible as my source of morality, I\u2019ll remind people that there are plenty of Orthodox rabbis who agree with my reading of it.\u00a0 Even if they are completely clueless about the consequences.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When my liberal religious friends jump on me for declaring that the bible is racist, I can now point out that my opinion is consistent with Orthodox Jewish teachings.\u00a0 This is according to dozens of municipal chief rabbis in Israel:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,31,36],"class_list":["post-615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-bible","tag-orthodox-judaism","tag-racism"],"yoast_head":"\n
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