The Orthodox Union slips on marriage

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The O.U. did a political calculation, given the House vote in support of the bill, and figured it would be best to “get what they could.”  The O.U. then lobbied the Senate for exemptions for religious institutions and chose not to oppose the legislation codifying anti-Torah marriage concepts.  Whether that was the reality or the price of the amendment is unclear and perhaps immaterial.  In some sense, it sends a message: the U.S. culture ship is sinking, so let’s just do our best to make everyone comfortable in his compartment for the rest of the voyage.

The speed at which the slide has happened is dizzying.  Just a few years ago, congressional dynamics such as these would have been unthinkable.  Prior Democrat administrations were adamantly opposed to codification.  Fast-forward a few years, and we just saw the nation’s observant Jewish headquarters, the O.U., choosing not to take an official position on the legislation other than to say they don’t support the bill’s purpose.  They did not take steps to work with other religious organizations to defeat the bill, as they concluded that their efforts would be futile.  Other faith-based organizations such as the Mormon Church took a similar approach.

Marriage is no small matter in Judaism.  It is foundational.  The traditional family is the bedrock.  Proper relationships are enshrined in the seven laws that Jews believe the entire world needs to follow.  We read about prohibited relationships on our holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, as the gates of repentance are closing.  Judaism’s oral law describes the downfall of societies if certain relationships are canonized.  The story behind the upcoming holiday of Hanukah, where the Maccabees were victorious, is actually the story of a 25-year Jewish war against Greek culture, which celebrated and strongly encouraged forbidden relationships.