love is chemistry? Chemistry Book in Israeli High Schools Includes a Homophobic Exercise

By YANIR DEKEL
Updated: OCTOBER 14, 2016 13:50
A post by a high school student went viral in Israel last week after she opposed a homophobic exercise in a chemistry book. The eleventh grader took to Facebook to express her anger toward the exercise, which implies that a wedding between two men or two women cannot happen.
 
"I major in chemistry," wrote the student, who preferred to remain anonymous, "and in one of my classes I encountered the following: They give an example to illustrate one of the theories the book, and the example was taken from Judaism. And when I say 'Judaism' I don't mean its beautiful side, but its ugly and sexist side that we all know very well.
 
"The example supposedly explains when a molecule can be formed through attractions and when it cannot. And how was it demonstrated in the book? By 'kosher' weddings. According to the book, when there're two brides or two grooms, a wedding can not take place. When I saw this explanation in the book I got mad and I went a little crazy, and instead of receiving agreement from my teacher (who happened to be religious), I  received a reprimand."
 
The book contains an explanation of molecules, and then reads, "If you got confused in the last section, you can use the following analogy: when one room has three brides (hydrogens) and one groom (unbound electron pair) - only a kosher Jewish wedding is possible. When there're three grooms and one bride - there can be only one wedding. Only when there're two brides (hydrogens) and two grooms (unbound electron pairs), will two kosher weddings be possible, as you can see in the following illustration."
 
The angry student, drew hearts between the two brides and the two grooms and scanned the illustration onto Facebook, arguing that in any of these cases love might prevail and a wedding could result. "When we talk about religion in the educational system - we are talking about this," she then wrote, and concluded with a question to the Minister of Education, "Minister Naftali Bennett, it's true, some say that love is chemistry, but is this what they mean?"