Spanish Jews Back Madrid Chief Rabbi Amid Gay ‘Deviant’ Report
Moshe Benhahan
The Jewish community of Madrid has denied the authenticity of quotes attributed to its chief rabbi, in which he reportedly called homosexuals “deviants” who need “re-educating.”
“For a very long time now, we have been supporting the gay community’s fight against discrimination,” read a statement by the community published Tuesday in Religion Digital, a Spanish-language news website.
Moshe Benhahan
The statement came after an interview with Rabbi Moshe Bendahan which was published on the website last week.
The rabbi is quoted as saying: “Homosexuality is a deviation from nature. It’s an anti-natural tendency and a sin. Contemplating allowing, consenting to what is known as ‘gay marriages’ would be a monstrosity.”
The interview was “distorted,” Ziva Freidkes, a spokeswoman for the Madrid Jewish community, told JTA Wednesday. She said the rabbi never made the negative references to homosexuals and that the interview was “inaccurate and took things out of context.”
Religion Digital, one of the country’s major news portals on religion, released its own statement on Tuesday reaffirming the veracity of the quotes. The journalist who interviewed Bendahan, Antonio Aradillas, was described by the news portal as having “undeniable prestige and decades of experience in covering religious affairs.”
Based in Madrid, Religion Digital is run by veteran journalist Jose Manuel Vidal, with the stated mission of “publishing online quality information on religion.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Make a Passover Gift Today!
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Pope Francis’ final speech called for ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza war
-
Fast Forward Israeli army fires deputy commander after finding ‘operational errors’ in killing of 15 Gazans
-
Fast Forward ‘F–k Israel’ message displayed at Coachella music festival and streamed to millions
-
Fast Forward Jewish students, alumni decry ‘weaponization of antisemitism’ across country
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 3
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 4
Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Pope Francis’ final speech called for ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza war
-
Opinion Shackled, imprisoned and subjected to false accusations, Kilmar Abrego Garcia recalls the fate of Captain Alfred Dreyfus
-
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
-
Culture In Pope Francis, a voice for interfaith dialogue and against antisemitism
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.