Kamoha.org.il (Hebrew: כמוך, English: 'like you') is an Israeli organization for

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

s. It is aimed primarily at the

Religious Zionist Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...

community, but is also open to those from the Hareidi sector. The organization has split from the organization Havruta, and chose a much more conservative approach, promoting conversion therapy and marriage of gay men to lesbians.

Positions

Promoting conversion therapy

Kamoha.org.il promotes

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have ...

, and offers subsidies to finance it, declaring that some gay men might yet be able to develop opposite sex attraction and live a fulfilling normative heterosexual lifestyle. Yet it states that success is not guaranteed and that these treatments cannot be a sufficient solution for all gay men.

Pairing gay men with lesbians

The organization supports the project ''Anachnu'' (Hebrew: אנחנו, English: 'us'). ''Anachnu'' is a

matchmaking Matchmaking is the process of pairing two or more people together, usually for the purpose of marriage, in which case the intermediary or matchmaker is also known as a marriage broker. Matchmaking may be done as a profession for a fee or it may ...

service which pairs gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews. This has been criticized by Orthodox lesbian organization Bat-Kol, and by Orthodox gay men's organization Havruta, which claims that this will create "unhealthy relationships" and is an attempt to "hide heexistence" of LGBT people, a view supported by Rabbi Aviner.

Opposing pride

The organization formally opposes participation in

pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

s, and does not see having an orientation which presents myriad halachic questions as being something specifically to be proud of. Kamoha, along with Hod, criticized the participation of Havruta in the Tel-Aviv pride and Jerusalem pride.

Rabbinical support

The organization is backed by Rabbi Areleh Harel, former Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Hesder Shilo, who promotes his match making initiative together with the organization under the brand name ''Anachnu'' (English: 'us'). The organization declares that it is in contact with Orthodox Rabbis. Among those Rabbis who publicly support the organization are: Rabbi Menachem Borshtin, the head of the Puah Institute; Rabbi Yuval Sherlo, the

Rosh Yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

of Yeshivat Hesder Petah Tikva; and Rabbi Yechiel Paust, former Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Moreshet Yaakov.

References

External links

Official website
{{LGBTQ topics and Judaism LGBTQ Orthodox Jewish organizations