Rabbi Reisner's Talk

I was very excited that the first presentation we had was so interesting. Rabbi Reisner took one of the most popular concepts in reform Judaism, Tikkun Olam, and allowed us to view it in a new and worldly relevant way. I knew that Tikkun Olam dealt with community service and social action, but I did not realize that it's original meaning pertained to Jewish law. I also knew to some extent that the Judaism allowed for amendments to laws so as to pertain to the constantly changing world, but I was unaware of some of the processes behind these amendments. Rabbi Reisner's speech was very educational, even if some of the views that he held were different from my own.
I really liked the insight that we were afforded into the Conservative sects struggle with homosexuality. I have always been very liberal in my views concerning homosexuality, mainly because I believe it to be a characteristic that is not chosen but innate. Although religion is not based off of science, with all of the knowledge we have in this day and age, science is often hard to ignore. And so, my biggest argument matches that of the half of the committee which was concerned with GOD's "wiring." If GOD has given life to each person and imbedded in this person the trait of homosexuality, then who are we to say that it is against the laws which he himself gave us? Obviously the debate is much more complex than that one argument, but it was just really interesting to learn that the Conservative movement is not discounting that possibility. The discussions on human dignity trumping restrictions of law were also both optimistic and, quite frankly, comforting haha.
Overall I just really appreciated the fact that Rabbi Reisner was so real with us. Often times I feel like people in difficult situations involving Jewish law will beat around the bush or try and switch topics, and I find myself consistantly getting irritated. Even if some of his opinions differed from my own, the thorough discussion of evidence and argument for each position presented was enlightening and again, appreciated.