T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights today praised the United States Supreme Court Rulings in two marriage equality cases: United States v. Windsor, known also as “DOMA”, and Hollingsworth v. Perry, known also as “Prop 8”.
United States v. Windsor challenged the constitutionality of Section 3 of the 1996 “Defense of Marriage Act” or (DOMA). Hollingsworth v. Perry, challenged the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the ballot measure in California that restricts marriage to opposite-sex couples.
Today the Supreme Court struck down section 3 of the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” or DOMA, opening the door for married same-sex couples to receive the federal protections they were denied under the discriminatory law. The Supreme Court dismissed the Proposition 8 case on standing grounds; the decision restores marriage equality in California.
“We applaud the Supreme Court’s ruling, striking down section 3 of DOMA, said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Executive Director of T’ruah. “Married same-sex couples will now be afforded the crucial federal benefits they deserve, including social security survivor benefits, unpaid leave to care for a sick or injured spouse, inheritance tax protections, and hundreds of other protections. Equality before the law is a Jewish and human rights imperative. Loving committed, married same-sex couples and their families can finally receive the fair treatment they deserve. ”
Jacobs continued:
“T’ruah is also pleased that Prop 8 is now over in California, allowing same-sex couples to marry in that state. This ruling is an important step forward in the marriage equality movement.”
Earlier this year T’ruah joined a “friend of the court” briefing in these cases filed by a coalition of Jewish organizations in support of marriage equality. T’ruah added extended interest statements that emphasized the Jewish and human rights imperative for equality in civil marriage.
In both of its statements of interests, T’ruah argued, “Our commitment to human rights begins with the Torah’s declaration that all people are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26)” and cites rabbinic sources that equate harming another person to harming God.
In the Windsor case, which concerned a surviving same-sex spouse facing an inheritance tax not levied on opposite-sex spouses, T’ruah further argued, “Jewish law. . .upholds the right of the government to impose taxes on its citizens. However, major Jewish legal authorities classify as “theft” a tax levied on one subgroup and not on another.” (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Theft 5:14; Shulchan Aruch, Hoshen Mishpat 369:8).
In its statement of interest for Hollingsworth v. Perry, T’ruah argued, “The insistence that human beings are created in the image of God also spawns a commandment to procreate—that is, to partner with God in creating new divine images. In fact, this is the first commandment that the Torah gives to human beings. Today, many same sex couples are having and raising children. Denying these couples the rights of marriage challenges their ability to fulfill this divine commandment.”
T’ruah also pointed out that three of the four major movements of Judaism—Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist—permit clergy to sanctify same-sex relationships. The statements of interest concluded, “While each rabbi or religious community retains the right to determine acceptable guidelines for religious marriage, the state has an obligation to guarantee to same-sex couples the legal rights and protections that accompany civil marriage. Doing otherwise constitutes a violation of human rights, as well as the Jewish and American legal imperatives for equal protection under the law.”
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, represents 1800 rabbis and cantors, of all Jewish denominations, as well as tens of thousands of Jewish community members in North America. T’ruah is one of dozens of groups that spoke in favor of marriage equality in the Anti-Defamation League’s amicus briefs including: Americans United for Separation of Church and State; Bend the Arc – A Jewish Partnership for Justice; Central Conference of American Rabbis; Women of Reform Judaism; Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST); Hadassah – The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc.; and many more organizations.
Read the full amicus briefs here:
Anti-Defamation League Amicus Brief in United States v. Windsor
Anti-Defamation League Amicus Brief in Hollingsworth v. Perry
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Read the Anti-Defamation League press release here: