Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition

If you are a Christian, you may think that an Orthodox Jewish rabbi comes from such a different way of approaching our shared Scripture that little would result from a lot of effort. Think again! This remarkable book is captivating from beginning to end and filled with innumberable insights that grace virtually every page. Along the way, you may, as I discovered, come away with a whole new appreciation for Orthodox Judaism. It s one thing to find a helpful book. It s quite another to find one helpful and delightful to read. Here are a couple of sentences worth mulling over: "Gayness is no more an automatic intentional rejection of procreation than is straightness a sworn promise of it." And, "Nature is a text that can say almost anything we want it to say while appearing to have said nothing but what is evident." Both of these statements are found on the same page. This man can turn a phrase. After quoting from a letter from a near-suicidal gay Orthodox Jew, (a feature familiar to many pastors and their gay parishioners) Rabbi Greenberg states his purpose for writing the book. "For the sake of this young man and many men and women very much like him, the first goal of this book is to demonstrate that, contrary to the assumptions of many liberal and traditional Jews, an argument can be made in defense of gay relatioships from within the canon of traditional Jewish textual resources. What this man needs is not permission to have sex with men. That is hardly enough. What he needs is a way to envision a life of love, intimacy, and commitment with a man in the context of a religiously alive Orthodox community. The task of writing on this topic is to make a path that is responsible to these human realities and deeply commit to God and Torah." To reach his goal, Rabbi Greenberg divided his book into four sections. In Sacred Texts, he explores the biblical stories of Adam and Eve, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Leviticus that continue to shape Westen civilization s sexual ethics and gender identities. His discussion of the first not good of creation, Adams lonliness, and how God went about overcoming it, is worth the price of the book. In Evidence, our rabbi surveys the positive ways in which the stories of Jonathan and David, Ruth and Naomi, and rabinnical stories associated with gay themes have been treated up through the Middle Ages. He finds within the Jewish conversation what many Christian observers also found in this period, a lack of horror regarding same-sex love that we moderns are so possessed by. The concluding chapter of this section involves the very unJewish notion that asking Why? is forbidden regarding Leviticus 18 and 20. To ask is to open up the necessity for justifying one's answer, a slippery slope, indeed. In Rationales, he returns to the fundamental prohibition posed in Leviticus, and asks the forbidden question, Why? What is particularly problematic, immoral, or offensive about male-male intercourse in the first place? And why is female-

Many books have been published on the topic of homosexuality in the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as the Christian New Testament. While all of them contribute to a greater understanding of this topic in a compassionate and supportive way, nevertheless, Greenberg's book stands out in a pre-eminent way for its deep reverence, and its passionate love for God's Word. Not only does he offer the scholarship we usually find in Jewish and Christian circles about specific biblical passages; he also delves into the classical rabbinical argumentations found in the biblical commentaries, which I have not seen elsewhere. He is not shy about the sometimes shocking ways homosexuality was benignly treated among a people whose theological and social priorities were the family, and procreation. This is a daring, provocative book; but Greenberg's explanations and arguments are extremely well-nuanced and carefully laid out. It is exciting to discover a book like this. Highly recommended.

IT IS WITH GREAT JOY THAT I SALUTE RABBI STEVEN GREENBERG ON HIS MILESTONE OF "COMING OUT" AND ALSO ON WRITING THE BOOK: WRESTLING WITH GOD AND MEN. HAVING THE GUTS TO CONFRONT TRADITIONAL RELIGION WITH A SUBJECT MATTER LOATHED BY SO MANY IS MORE THAN UPLIFTING, IT IS SALVATION. THE BOOK IS WELL WRITTEN, WARM, INTRIGUING, NOTWITHSTANDING SCHOLARLY. IT CREATES A SAFE HAVEN FOR JEWS (AND OTHERS) WHO MUST RECONCILE HOMOSEXUALITY WITH FAITH, BOTH BEING INTEGRAL TO THEIR EXISTENCE. ECHOING RABBI GREENBERG... HOW CAN GOD CREATE GAYS, AND THEN DOOM THEM? FOR MANY INDIVIDUALS, HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT A CHOICE, NOR IS THEIR INTENSE FAITH. IT SEEMS LIKE AFTER 3,300 YEARS OF JUDAISM, THE TIME IS RIPE FOR NEW BEGINNINGS, NEW DIALOGUES, INCLUSIVE RELIGION. THIS BOOK IS PERHAPS "THE BIBLE" FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS STRUGGLING TO MAKE SENSE OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND FAITH IN OUR CONDEMNATORY WORLD. AT LAST, DIGNITY FOR TRADITIONAL JEWS!

It was Shakespeare who said, "To thy own self be true," but it was Rabbi Steven Greenberg who made this his mantra. As a (...)of the Jewish faith, I have wrestled with God and men, both figuritively and literally. Rabbi Greenberg's eloquant writing is equally compassionate and thought provoking. It is comfort; a warm glass of milk or a soft blanket, if you will. I feel more at ease being a (...)Jew after having read this book. I feel more at peace and more comfortable in this world. Buy this book and share it with those you love.

"Wrestling with God and Men" is the most erudite, compelling, and utterly satisfying book on homosexuality in religion that I've ever read. Rabbi Greenberg weaves the scholarship of our ancestors into a glorious tapestry, demonstrating not just the fact of homosexuality within the fabric of Judaism, but the more fundamental necessity of this inclusion.Rabbi Greenberg would seem to prefer we believe that he is like "Daniel the Tailor", the champion of the oppressed, who challenged his Rabbis for failing to balance their jurisprudence and values with the biblical concern for justice and fairness. (Greenberg, pg 212). However his holy scholarship suggests that Rabbi Greenberg is more like Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, former chief rabbi of Israel, who invited "Jews everywhere to return to their ancestral land and restore their ancient spirit" (Greenberg, pg 242). In all likelihood, this book could not have been written in any other age. It needed the living experiences of an openly-gay Rabbinic mind to realize an honest gay perspective and approach to our sacred texts. If you are considering buying this book, please buy several copies and donate them to your local Hillel, Chabad, Yeshiva and Shul. All people who are "wrestling with god" should read this book!