Follow-up on Yad HaShmonah Lawsuit

This is a longer article than I usually post here, but I think it is a follow-up to a previous one, and I believe it may be of interest to readers. There are many things I would like to say, but I cannot now. From Caspari Center Media Review:

Makor Rishon, November 2, 2012

Ayelet Ronen, representing the Messianic moshav Yad HaShmona, gave an interview on the recent precedent-setting ruling of the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court that ordered the moshav to pay damages to a lesbian couple after refusing to host the couple’s wedding (see September 17, 2012, Media Review). In the aftermath of the court ruling, Yad HaShmona has had to close its reception hall, which was one of its largest sources of income. According to Ronen, the moshav, with its hall and adjacent guest accommodations, is unique. “We don’t have disco parties, or serve alcoholic beverages, there is no belly-dancing, we don’t rent out rooms to unmarried couples, even though we lose a lot of money on account of this. When groups of young people come [to stay at the guest house] we put them in separate rooms, according to gender. This is why we have mostly attracted a religious or serious crowd – the ones who are looking for quiet.”

Journalist Yehuda Yifrach explains that this is on account of the moshav’s religious background. Giving a short history of Yad HaShmona, he writes how it was established in the 1960s by a group of Israel-loving Christians from Finland, and how, several years later, a group of Messianic Jews joined them to form a long-lasting and strong working relationship. Says Ronen: “We study the Bible together and fast during Yom Kippur. Everyone here is a person of faith, though we are not associated with a specific religious organization. There is no synagogue or church here, but the business is closed on the Sabbath. … It is very important to us that we raise our children with a deep understanding that the Bible is still alive today.”

Ronen tells Yifrach that three years ago the moshav secretary received a call from a lesbian couple wanting to perform their wedding ceremony there. The secretary explained to the couple that such an event would be very hard for the moshav to host, “because they are religious people and because this kind of thing contradicts their faith.” Ronen says the couple never even came to the moshav, but immediately called a lawyer specializing in these kinds of cases (and a lesbian herself) and filed a lawsuit citing sexual harassment and discrimination. Ronen says she was most appalled by the claim (eventually backed by the court) that this was a case of sexual harassment: “It shocked all of us. … First of all, as far as I know, there is no precedent whereby an entire village is accused of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is, by its very nature, a personal thing, when one person oversteps another person’s boundaries with the intention of hurting him or her.” By turning sexual harassment into a communal act, “we will reach ridiculous and absurd heights. If the law establishment continues this way, there will be no end to it: homosexuals and lesbians will begin suing synagogues that refuse to host their weddings, and the courts will bring these institutions down financially. … It is only a matter of time before all boundaries are breached.”

“For me,” says Ronen, “the issue is clear: morality is not determined by what feels nice, but by what is written in the Bible of the God who created me.” Ronen makes clear that she stands by her moral convictions, and that she is not ashamed of them. “We were told: you are stupid. You should have told the couple that the date was already booked, or that it costs 900 ILS/head. But I am glad we did not try to hide our values.” It is important for Ronen to emphasize that in spite of their moral convictions, they never made any public statements denouncing anyone, or made any attempt to involve themselves in the lives of the lesbian couple, to educate them etc. “All we wanted was to be allowed to run our small business according to our faith and live at peace with our convictions. I believe that, according to the Bible and the New Testament, this kind of [gay] relationship is sinful. I am not allowed to partake in it. I am not calling them sinners, but when they come to me and on the door of my house is written the verse from Joshua, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, ‘ then no court can force me to act against my own conscience.”

Since the court’s ruling, the moshav has had to suspend all its events. “As soon as the ruling came through, we received dozens of calls from homosexual couples wanting to hold their weddings here. They all wanted to sue us and make some money. … We have already begun laying off our workers and to think about the future. But I am optimistic, because I believe that if you do what is true and right in the eyes of God, blessing will come from it.”