A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts by Noam Sienna
LGBTQ Stats: by the Numbers by David Deschamps and Bennett L. Singer
Voting ended onMay 16
Book summaries below:
A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969 by Noam Sienna
For many queer Jews, Jewish tradition seems like a rich tapestry which at best ignores them and at worst rejects them entirely. In reality, queerness and queer Judaism have been a constant subplot of Jewish history, if only we care to look.
Spanning almost two millennia and containing translations from more than a dozen languages, Noam Sienna's new book, A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts From the First Century to 1969, collects for the first time more than a hundred sources on the intersection of Jewish and queer identities.
Covering poetry, drama, literature, law, midrash, and memoir, this anthology suggests that Jewish texts are not just obstacles to be overcome in the creation of queer Jewish life, but also potential resources waiting to be excavated. Through an unprecedented examination of the histories of gender and sexuality over two millennia of Jewish life around the world, this book inspires and challenges its readers to create a better future through a purposeful reflection on our past.
For many queer Jews, Jewish tradition seems like a rich tapestry which at best ignores them and at worst rejects them entirely. In reality, queerness and queer Judaism have been a constant subplot of Jewish history, if only we care to look.
Spanning almost two millennia and containing translations from more than a dozen languages, Noam Sienna's new book, A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts From the First Century to 1969, collects for the first time more than a hundred sources on the intersection of Jewish and queer identities.
Covering poetry, drama, literature, law, midrash, and memoir, this anthology suggests that Jewish texts are not just obstacles to be overcome in the creation of queer Jewish life, but also potential resources waiting to be excavated. Through an unprecedented examination of the histories of gender and sexuality over two millennia of Jewish life around the world, this book inspires and challenges its readers to create a better future through a purposeful reflection on our past.
Nonfiction, history, religion, primary source
LGBTQ Stats: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer People by the Numbers by David Deschamps and Bennett L. Singer
Twenty years ago it was impossible to imagine the president of the United States embracing same-sex marriage or Caitlyn Jenner, an open transgender woman.
LGBTQ Stats chronicles the ongoing LGBTQ revolution, providing the critical statistics, and draws upon and synthesizes newly collected data. Deschamps and Singer—whose previous books and films on LGBTQ topics have won numerous awards and found audiences around the globe—provide chapters on family and marriage, workplace discrimination, education, youth, criminal justice, and immigration, as well as evolving policies and laws affecting LGBTQ communities. A chapter on LGBTQ life around the globe contrasts the dramatic progress for LGBTQ people in the United States with violent backlash in countries such as Russia, Iran, and Nigeria, which have discriminatory laws that make same-sex activity punishable by prison or death.
A lively, accessible, and eye-opening snapshot, LGBTQ Stats offers an invaluable resource for activists, journalists, lawmakers, and general readers who want the facts and figures on LGBTQ lives in the twenty-first century.
The question of how to accommodate the fluidity of bodies and
genders within the system of Jewish law has engaged rabbinic
thinkers since antiquity. In this responsum, an
Ottoman rabbi, Yosef Pallache, deals with the question of
whether a married woman who has been “changed” into a man
must still obtain a get (divorce certificate) from his former
husband. Ruling that this person is now a man in every respect,
and supporting his claim with an appeal to early modern
scientific knowledge, Pallache rules that there is no need for a
get, since the “woman” of the original contract no longer exists.
Pallache then points out that this man cannot reasonably recite
the morning blessing that thanks God for not having created him
a woman, since he was in fact initially created so; therefore, the
rabbi suggests a new blessing, thanking God “who has
transformed me into a man”(!).
A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969 by Noam Sienna
I recently purchased a book called A Rainbow Thread, an anthology of queer jewish texts from the first century to 1969 (it's amazing, go buy it)
I wanted to share this incredible poem from a Jewish male writer in 1323, articulating a desire to be a woman. (the book does caution that this poem was part of a book that presented critiques and parodies of local scholars and jewish life, and the purpose of this poem being included in that book is unclear. still: the authenticity of the feeling imagined behind the poem's subject can't be ignored.)
The last few lines are particularly powerful and emotional for me.
What an awful fate for my mother
that she bore a son. What a loss of all benefit!
Cursed be the one who announced to my father: "It's a boy!"
Woe to him who has male sons.
Upon them a heavy yoke has been placed, restrictions and constraints.
Some in private, some in public,
some to avoid the mere appearance of violation,
and some entering the most secret of places.
Strong statutes and awesome commandments,
six hundred and thirteen.
Who is the man who can do all that is written, so that he might be spared?
Oh, but had the artisan who made me
created me instead - a fair woman.
Today I would be wise and insightful.
We would weave, my friends and I,
and in the moonlight spin our yarn,
and tell our stories to one another, from dusk till midnight.
We'd tell of the events of our day, silly things, matters of no consequence.
But also I would grow very wise from the spinning,
and I would say, "Happy is she who knows how to work with combed flax and weave it into fine white linen."
And at times, in the way of women,
I would lie down on the kitchen floor,
between the ovens, turn the coals, and taste the different dishes.
On holidays I would put on my best jewelry.
I would beat on the drum
and my clapping hands would ring.
And when I was ready and the time was right,
an excellent youth would be my fortune.
He would love me, place me on a pedestal,
dress me in jewels of gold,
earrings, bracelets, necklaces.
And on the appointed day,
in the season of joy when brides are wed,
for seven days would the boy increase my delight and gladness.
Were I hungry, he would feed me well-kneaded bread.
Were I thirsty, he would quench me with light and dark wine.
He would not chastise nor harshly treat me,
and my [sexual] pleasure he would not diminish.
Every Sabbath, and each new moon,
his head would rest upon my breast.
The three husbandly duties he would fulfill,
rations, raiment, and regular intimacy.
And three wifely duties would I also fulfill,
[watching for menstrual] blood, [sabbath candle] lights, and bread.
Father in heaven, who did miracles for our ancestors with fire and water,
You changed the fire of Chaldees so it would not burn hot,
You changed Dinah in the womb of her mother to a girl,
You changed the staff to a snake before a million eyes,
You changed [Moses'] hand to [leprous] white,
and the sea to dry land.
In the desert you turned rock to water,
hard flint to a fountain.
Who would then turn me from a man to woman?
Were I only to have merited this, being so graced by goodness.
What shall I say? Why cry or be bitter?
If my Father in heaven has decreed upon me
and has maimed me with an immutable deformity,
then I do not wish to remove it.
And the sorrow of the impossible
is a human pain that nothing will cure
and for which no comfort can be found.
So, I will bear and suffer
until I die and wither in the ground.
And since I have learned from our tradition
the we bless both the good and the bitter,
I will bless in a voice, hushed and weak,
"Blessed are You, O Lord, who has not made me a woman."
At Anshe Emet, we make a difference. Please help us show respect for Ben Rosenstein as we purchase the headstone he was denied. Last weekend, we had the privilege of welcoming Noam Sienna to our synagogue for Shabbat. Here is an excerpt from his D'var Torah: "This story takes place just ove...
When I spoke at Anshe Emet Synagogue for Pride, I challenged them to transform the memory of queer Jewish history into action... One of the new projects that they have taken on is honouring Ben Rosenstein, a transmasculine Jewish immigrant who died of tuberculosis in 1915, and is buried in Chicago in a pauper's grave without a headstone.
The synagogue is raising money to remember this queer/trans ancestor by providing Ben with a proper headstone. This project is so important, especially in a time when the stories we tell about America, about migration, and about family, are ever expanding. The greatest kindness that one can do in the Jewish tradition is to give dignity to the dead. Will you help me honour the life and death of Ben Rosenstein?
An interview about an anthology exploring marginalized voices in Jewish history
Originating from a broad range of geographic and chronological contexts, these texts, many of them appearing for the first time in English, offer the reader a broad vision of what it has meant to be a queer Jew throughout history — even in contexts where queerness has traditionally been assumed absent. Academic and lay readers alike will discover an astonishing variety of personal stories, poems, and midrashim in the anthology... I have been following the project since Noam first decided to publish it as a book — and was delighted to discuss it with him in more depth...
SL: What are your hopes for the book now that it’s been published?
NS: There’s almost no area of the Jewish world or aspect of Jewish life that is not touched upon in some way in the book — rabbinic literature, Hebrew poetry, Jewish immigration, secularization, modernization, and the development of the field of sexology. I really want other scholars to run with all of those different directions. The hope I have moving forward is that more people will be able to open up these historical fields.
There’s definitely more academic work to be produced from the book. About a third of the material in the book has never been published in English translation. Some material, sourced from archives, appears in this book for the very first time.
One reason why I chose to publish it with a trade press rather than an academic press is because I also wanted it to have a wider audience than just academics. I wanted a high school, even middle school, student to be able to read it, and I very consciously tried to write in a way that was accessible to laypeople. I’m excited to see the book serve as a resource for nonacademics: artists, filmmakers, playwrights, graphic novelists and people who are doing other kinds of Jewish programming. The stories included in this book could make wonderful plays, art installations, documentary films, comic books and graphic novels, children’s books, et cetera. I’m not the person to do that, but I’m really excited to put out the raw material for other people to work with.
SL: There’s a lot of talk right now among Jewish authors about what is out there for young readers that represents the full spectrum of Jewish experiences.
NS: It’s so rich and so much of it is unknown, and so really this book is an excuse to get people to read primary sources from Jewish history. If the fact that it’s about lesbians or about cross-dressing stowaways or about Yeshiva students sleeping with each other gets people excited to read that, great — but what’s equally exciting to me is that this might be a conduit for someone to learning about Jewish life in the Ottoman Empire, or life in colonial Brazil, or in medieval Iraq.
The intent of this book is to broaden the horizon of Jewish history — in terms of sexuality, gender, temporality, and location. I think people might be surprised to discover just how many areas of Jewish life can be enriched through the incorporation of these marginalized voices.
Noam Sienna , author of the book A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969 , joins Lex and Dan for a conversation about expanding our understanding of the Jewish past. [1] [2]
"[A rabbi in 1969] looked at his Jewish 'bookshelf.' And he said 'I don't see anything that deals with homosexuality.' [He concluded] that homosexuals don't exist in Jewish history. But the mistake that he makes is that he looks at what happens to be on his 'bookshelf' -- the Mishnah, and Talmud, and Medieval compilations of Jewish law, all written by men, mostly written in Europe -- and thinks 'that's everything I need to know about Judaism.' But that bookshelf is just a sliver -- the '1%.' As soon as we move the spotlight over a bit, we see an entirely different picture of Judaism."
Listen in to the latest episode of Judaism Unbound, featuring Noam Sienna, author of A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts!
