Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on June 13, 2017

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Rabbi Joseph Dweck, the chief Sephardic rabbi of the United Kingdom, speaks at a World War I remembrance ceremony.

(JTA) The United Kingdomstop Sephardic rabbi becamethe center of an international controversy after he praisedsocietal acceptance of homosexuality as a fantastic development.

Rabbi Joseph Dweck came under fire after making thecomment at a lecture last month.An Orthodox rabbi in London asked a rabbinic court to look into removing Dweck from his position, and a petition created by an American Orthodox rabbicallingDweck a heretic had gained some 480 signatures, The Jewish News reported.

A letter from Israels chief Sephardic rabbi, Yitzchak Yosef, also condemned Dweck.

I am amazed and angry at the words of nonsense and heresy that were said about the foundations of our faith in our Torah, the letter said.

Dweck received rabbinic ordination from Yosefs father, the late Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, Ovadia Yosef.

Dweck has refused to back down, although he acknowledgedthat his use of the word fantastic was exaggerated, The Jewish News reported.

I did not say that homosexual acts were fantastic. I said that the development in society had residual benefits much in the same way that Islam and Christianity did, as the Rambam pointed out, he said.

These residual effects in my opinion are that it has helped society be more open to the expression of love between men, he added. I was not asserting law, nor for that matter, demanding a particular way of thought. I was simply presenting a personal observation.

Read this article:

Orthodox Cry Foul As British Chief Sephardic Rabbi Praises Acceptance Of Gays - Forward

Category: Sephardic
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