Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition
by Steven Greenberg
University of Wisconsin Press, 2005 Cloth: 978-0-299-19090-3 | eISBN: 978-0-299-19093-4 | Paper: 978-0-299-19094-1 Library of Congress Classification BM729.H65G74 2004 Dewey Decimal Classification 296.366
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
For millennia, two biblical verses have been understood to condemn sex between men as an act so abhorrent that it is punishable by death. Traditionally Orthodox Jews, believing the scripture to be the word of God, have rejected homosexuality in accordance with this interpretation. In 1999, Rabbi Steven Greenberg challenged this tradition when he became the first Orthodox rabbi ever to openly declare his homosexuality. Wrestling with God and Men is the product of Rabbi Greenberg’s ten-year struggle to reconcile his two warring identities. In this compelling and groundbreaking work, Greenberg challenges long held assumptions of scriptural interpretation and religious identity as he marks a path that is both responsible to human realities and deeply committed to God and Torah. Employing traditional rabbinic resources, Greenberg presents readers with surprising biblical interpretations of the creation story, the love of David and Jonathan, the destruction of Sodom, and the condemning verses of Leviticus. But Greenberg goes beyond the question of whether homosexuality is biblically acceptable to ask how such relationships can be sacred. In so doing, he draws on a wide array of nonscriptural texts to introduce readers to occasions of same-sex love in Talmudic narratives, medieval Jewish poetry and prose, and traditional Jewish case law literature. Ultimately, Greenberg argues that Orthodox communities must open up debate, dialogue, and discussion—precisely the foundation upon which Jewish law rests—to truly deal with the issue of homosexual love.
This book will appeal not only to members of the Orthodox faith but to all religious people struggling to resolve their belief in the scriptures with a desire to make their communities more open and accepting to gay and lesbian members.
2005 Finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards, for Religion/Spirituality
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Rabbi Steven Greenberg is a senior teaching fellow at CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.
REVIEWS
"Wrestling with God and Men—as useful for Christians as it is for Jews—not only brings new and fresh thinking about our current debate over homosexuality but interweaves theology and history with Greenberg's own personal journey in a way that is enlightening, instructive, and inspirational. I heartily recommend this book to Christians who wish to take their Hebrew scriptures seriously and who are willing to examine their own responses to this raging debate."—The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
"[Greenberg] effectively portrays the plight of closeted and openly gay Orthodox Jews who struggle daily with their sexual desires and with the knowledge that the Torah and the rabbis forbid homosexuality."—Publishers Weekly
TABLE OF CONTENTS
<table of contents, p. v >
Contents
Intoduction 000
1. Sacred Texts
1. The Birth of Gender and Desire 000
2. Sodom 000
3. Leviticus 000
4. Lesbian Omissions 000
2. Evidence
5. Princely Love 000
6. Rabbinic Heroes 000
7. The Queer Middle Ages 000
8. The Legal Literature 000
9. Rav Moshe and the Problem of Why 000
3. Rationales
10. The Rationale of Reproduction 000
11. The Rationale of Social Disruption 000
12. The Rationale of Category Confusion 000
13. The Rationale of Humiliation and Violence 000
4. Conversations
14. Admitting Difference 000
15. Covenantal Gayness 000
Notes 000
Bibliography 000
Index 000
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Homosexuality, Male Religious aspects Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Homosexuality in the Bible
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition
by Steven Greenberg
University of Wisconsin Press, 2005 Cloth: 978-0-299-19090-3 eISBN: 978-0-299-19093-4 Paper: 978-0-299-19094-1
For millennia, two biblical verses have been understood to condemn sex between men as an act so abhorrent that it is punishable by death. Traditionally Orthodox Jews, believing the scripture to be the word of God, have rejected homosexuality in accordance with this interpretation. In 1999, Rabbi Steven Greenberg challenged this tradition when he became the first Orthodox rabbi ever to openly declare his homosexuality. Wrestling with God and Men is the product of Rabbi Greenberg’s ten-year struggle to reconcile his two warring identities. In this compelling and groundbreaking work, Greenberg challenges long held assumptions of scriptural interpretation and religious identity as he marks a path that is both responsible to human realities and deeply committed to God and Torah. Employing traditional rabbinic resources, Greenberg presents readers with surprising biblical interpretations of the creation story, the love of David and Jonathan, the destruction of Sodom, and the condemning verses of Leviticus. But Greenberg goes beyond the question of whether homosexuality is biblically acceptable to ask how such relationships can be sacred. In so doing, he draws on a wide array of nonscriptural texts to introduce readers to occasions of same-sex love in Talmudic narratives, medieval Jewish poetry and prose, and traditional Jewish case law literature. Ultimately, Greenberg argues that Orthodox communities must open up debate, dialogue, and discussion—precisely the foundation upon which Jewish law rests—to truly deal with the issue of homosexual love.
This book will appeal not only to members of the Orthodox faith but to all religious people struggling to resolve their belief in the scriptures with a desire to make their communities more open and accepting to gay and lesbian members.
2005 Finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards, for Religion/Spirituality
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Rabbi Steven Greenberg is a senior teaching fellow at CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.
REVIEWS
"Wrestling with God and Men—as useful for Christians as it is for Jews—not only brings new and fresh thinking about our current debate over homosexuality but interweaves theology and history with Greenberg's own personal journey in a way that is enlightening, instructive, and inspirational. I heartily recommend this book to Christians who wish to take their Hebrew scriptures seriously and who are willing to examine their own responses to this raging debate."—The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
"[Greenberg] effectively portrays the plight of closeted and openly gay Orthodox Jews who struggle daily with their sexual desires and with the knowledge that the Torah and the rabbis forbid homosexuality."—Publishers Weekly
TABLE OF CONTENTS
<table of contents, p. v >
Contents
Intoduction 000
1. Sacred Texts
1. The Birth of Gender and Desire 000
2. Sodom 000
3. Leviticus 000
4. Lesbian Omissions 000
2. Evidence
5. Princely Love 000
6. Rabbinic Heroes 000
7. The Queer Middle Ages 000
8. The Legal Literature 000
9. Rav Moshe and the Problem of Why 000
3. Rationales
10. The Rationale of Reproduction 000
11. The Rationale of Social Disruption 000
12. The Rationale of Category Confusion 000
13. The Rationale of Humiliation and Violence 000
4. Conversations
14. Admitting Difference 000
15. Covenantal Gayness 000
Notes 000
Bibliography 000
Index 000
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Homosexuality, Male Religious aspects Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Homosexuality in the Bible
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE