Wrestling with God and Men
Subtitle: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Published: February 15, 2004
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 264
ISBN-13: 9780299190903
Subjects: Gay studies (Gay men); Judaism; Social Science; Religion - Judaism; Religion; Sociology; Gay Studies; Judaism - Theology; Sexuality & Gender Studies; Social Science / Gay Studies; Jewish Studies; Homosexuality in the Bible; Homosexuality, Male; Orthodox Judaism; Religious aspects
Description: 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.