Torah Queeries : : Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible / / ed. by David Shneer, Joshua Lesser, Gregg Drinkwater.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• MitwirkendeR: Angel, Camille Shira,; Aviv, Caryn,; Bennett, Allen,; Biale, Rachel,; Brodie, Rachel,; Brodsky, David,; Cohen, Ayelet,; Creditor, Menachem,; Dorff, Elliot N.,; Drinkwater, Gregg,; Dzmura, Noach,; Edwards, Laurence,; Edwards, Lisa,; Eger, Denise L.,; Ellenson, David,; Elwell, Sue Levi,; Erlichman, Karen,; Fonrobert, Charlotte Elisheva,; Fornari, Ari Lev,; George, Mark,; Greenberg, Steven,; Greenstein, David,; Gutow, Steve,; Hammer, Jill,; Holtzman, Linda,; Idelson, Shirley,; Kahn, Yoel,; Kamionkowski, Tamar,; Kavka, Martin,; Kessler, Gwynn,; Klein, Jason Gary,; Kukla, Elliot,; Lappe, Benay,; Lau-Lavie, Amichai,; Lefkovitz, Lori Hope,; Lesser, Joshua,; Lev, Sarra,; Litman, Jane Rachel,; Michaelson, Jay,; Miron, Ayala Sha’ashoua,; Moers Wenig, Margaret,; Pelc, Julie,; Pessin, Sarah,; Plaskow, Judith,; Powers, Amber,; Rose, Dawn,; Shneer, David,; Singer, Jhos,; Spitzer, Toba,; Staub, Jacob J.,; Watts Belser, Julia,; Zellman, Reuben,
• HerausgeberIn: Drinkwater, Gregg,; Lesser, Joshua,; Shneer, David,
• TeilnehmendeR: Plaskow, Judith.
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2009]; ©2009
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

In the Jewish tradition, reading of the Torah follows a calendar cycle, with a specific portion assigned each week. These weekly portions, read aloud in synagogues around the world, have been subject to interpretation and commentary for centuries. Following on this ancient tradition, Torah Queeries brings together some of the world’s leading rabbis, scholars, and writers to interpret the Torah through a "bent lens". With commentaries on the fifty-four weekly Torah portions and six major Jewish holidays, the concise yet substantive writings collected here open up stimulating new insights and highlight previously neglected perspectives.This incredibly rich collection unites the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight-allied writers, including some of the most central figures in contemporary American Judaism. All bring to the table unique methods of reading and interpreting that allow the Torah to speak to modern concerns of sexuality, identity, gender, and LGBT life. Torah Queeries offers cultural critique, social commentary, and a vision of community transformation, all done through biblical interpretation. Written to engage readers, draw them in, and, at times, provoke them, Torah Queeries examines topics as divergent as the Levitical sexual prohibitions, the experience of the Exodus, the rape of Dinah, the life of Joseph, and the ritual practices of the ancient Israelites. Most powerfully, the commentaries here chart a future of inclusion and social justice deeply rooted in the Jewish textual tradition.A labor of intellectual rigor, social justice, and personal passions, Torah Queeries is an exciting and important contribution to the project of democratizing Jewish communities, and an essential guide to understanding the intersection of queerness and Jewishness.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Part I. Bereshit -- one. Male and Female God Created Them -- two. From Delight to Destruction: The Double-Faced Power of Sex -- three. Going to and Becoming Ourselves Transformation and Covenants in Parashat -- four. Looking Back to Look Forward Parashat Vayera (Genesis 18:1–22:24) -- five. When Gender Varies: A Curious Case of Kere and Ketiv -- six. Esau’s Gender Crossing -- seven. And Jacob Came Out -- eight. Biblical Sex -- nine. Joseph’s Fabulous Technicolor Dreamcoat -- ten. Yusuf Come Home -- eleven. Forgiveness as a Queer Response -- twelve. Uncovering Joseph’s Bones -- Part II. Shemot -- thirteen. Making Noise for Social Change -- fourteen. Uncircumcized Lips -- fifteen. The Ritual of Storytelling -- sixteen. Into Life: The Humanism of the Exodus -- seventeen. The Necessity of Windows -- eighteen. Laws and Judgments as a “Bridge to a Better World” -- nineteen. Building an Inclusive Social Space -- twenty. When the Fabulous Is Holy -- twenty–one. Mounting Sinai -- twenty-two. Listening to Heart-Wisdom -- twenty-three. A Knack for Design -- Part III. Vayikra -- twenty-four. Bodily Perfection in the Sanctuary -- twenty-five. HaNer Tamid, dos Pintele Yid v’ha Zohar Muzar: The Eternal Flame, the Jewish Spark, and the Flaming Queer -- twenty-six. Nadav and Avihu and Dietary Laws: A Case of Action and Reaction -- twenty-seven. Nagu’a: Touched by the Divine -- twenty-eight. It’s the Purity, Stupid: Reading Leviticus in Context -- twenty-nine. How Flexible Can Jewish Law Be? -- thirty. Sex in the Talmud: How to Understand Leviticus 18 and 20 -- thirty-one. Fear Factor: Lesbian Sex and Gay Men -- thirty-two. Neither Oppress nor Allow Others to Oppress You -- thirty-three. “Less Is More” and the Gift of Rain: The Value of Devaluation in Behukotai and Cixous’s Desire-That-Gives -- Part IV. Bemidbar -- thirty-four. How to Construct a Community -- thirty-five. From Impurity to Blessing -- thirty-six. Setting the Stage for Pluralistic Judaism -- thirty-seven. Ruach Acheret—Ruach Hakodesh/ Different Spirit—Sacred Spirit -- thirty-eight. Torah and Its Discontents -- thirty-nine. The Healing Serpent: Recovering Long Lost Jewish Fragments -- forty. Between Beast and Angel: The Queer, Fabulous Self -- forty-one. Pinchas, Zimri and the Channels of Divine Will -- forty-two. Going Ahead -- forty-three. Hearing Ancient, Courageous Voices for Justice and Change -- Part V. Devarim -- forty-four. From Whom Do We Learn History? Why Queer Community Needs Texts More Than Other Communities -- forty-five. Rethinking the Wicked “Son” -- forty-six. Bind These Words -- forty-eight. Setting Ourselves Judges -- forty-nine. To Wear Is Human, to Live—Divine -- fifty. In a New Country -- fifty-one. Embodied Jews -- fifty-two. “Be Strong and Resolute” -- fifty-three. Dor l’Dor -- fifty-four. This Is the Blessing: The “First Openly Gay Rabbi” Reminisces -- Part VI. Holiday Portions -- fifty-five. The Parade of Families -- fifty-six. What Is Atonement? -- fifty-seven. Strength through Diversity -- fifty-eight. Ad de’lo Yada: Until We Don’t Know the Difference -- fifty-nine. Liberation and Transgender Jews -- sixty. Trance and Trans at Har Sinai -- The New Rabbis: -- Contributors -- Index