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1. This article is a good example of rabbis leveraging the "Orthodox" label for unearned halakhic legitimacy. In this case for an anthropocentric vision of Judaism. https://www.jta.org/2020/10/28/lifestyle/a-small-but-growing-number-of-orthodox-rabbis-are-officiating-same-sex-weddings
2. As I explain in the post below, Jewish law prohibits same-sex marriage for reasons unrelated to Lev. 18:22, not that the rabbis listed above would care. https://joshyuter.com/2011/11/17/judaism/why-same-sex-marriage-violates-jewish-law/
3. On the limits of an anthropocentric vision of Judaism, see my article: Does Torah Care about your Feelings? https://thelehrhaus.com/scholarship/does-the-torah-care-about-your-feelings/
4. In any event, this is precisely why there are fights over the "Orthodox" label; when people conflate the affiliation with observance and righteousness, the label means more than following Torah.
5. And this is something I've been railing against for over 15 years.
Torah doesn't care if you're "Orthodox" - it cares that you follow Torah.
All of it, not just the parts you like. https://joshyuter.com/2005/07/25/judaism/jewish-law-halakha/yutopias-hashkafa-wrap-up/
Torah doesn't care if you're "Orthodox" - it cares that you follow Torah.
All of it, not just the parts you like. https://joshyuter.com/2005/07/25/judaism/jewish-law-halakha/yutopias-hashkafa-wrap-up/
6. Another important point on this story is that at least one of the rabbis mentioned in the OP has been vocal in criticizing Jews who have backed Trump as betraying their religious values.
7. This is an incoherent position if one's personal opinions on "religious values" can (let alone should) override explicit religious statute. If statute doesn't define the rules then others are entitled to make their own "value" judgments, based on their own selectivity
8. The alternative is to claim that statute is subordinate to the intuitions of an exclusive class of individuals.
Some may recognize this authoritarian approach as "Da'as Torah", but it's precisely how R. Avi Weiss describes "Open Orthodoxy." https://joshyuter.com/2013/10/27/podcasts/the-halakhic-process/ep-119-halakhic-process-25-open-orthodoxy/
Some may recognize this authoritarian approach as "Da'as Torah", but it's precisely how R. Avi Weiss describes "Open Orthodoxy." https://joshyuter.com/2013/10/27/podcasts/the-halakhic-process/ep-119-halakhic-process-25-open-orthodoxy/
