Queer Jews

Queer Jews describes how queer Jews are changing Jewish American culture, creating communities and making room for themselves, as openly, unapologetically queer and Jewish. Combining political analysis and personal memoir, these essays explore the various ways queer Jews are creating new forms of Jewish communities and institutions, and demanding that traditional Jewish communities become more inclusive. The book is an important addition to the study of gay Jewish life. Nothing has come along to take the place of Twice Blessed, published in 1986, and the landscape has changed substantially since then. Schneer and Aviv offer a fresh look ar gay Jewish life, including queer rabbis, adopting/having children, gay Jewish marriage and queer Orthodox Jewish life. The essays are accessible and appealing to anyone interested in exploring issues faced by queer Jews. Anonymous, Christy Balka, Marla Brettschneider, Ali Cannon, Joanne Cohen, Hadar Dubowsky, Sandi Simcha Dubowski, Jyl Lynn Felman, Steven Greenberg, Jo Hirschmann, Ruti Kadish, Jaron Kanegson, Inbal Ka

Table of Contents:
Part 1 MIXED BLESSINGS; Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION: HEEDING ISAIAH'S CALL, David Shneer, Caryn Aviv; Chapter 2 CREATING OUR HISTORIES: A LOOK BACK AT TWICE BLESSED, Avi Rose, Christie Balka; Chapter 3 HOW A LIBERATIONIST FEM UNDERSTANDS BEING A QUEER JEW, OR HOW TAKING ADVICE FROM A PROPHET, EVEN A JEWISH ONE, IS (UN)TRANSFORMATIVE, Joan Nestle; Part 2 IDENTITY; Chapter 4 THE WRITING ON THE WALL: ON BEING A JEWISH WRITER, A LESBIAN WRITER, AND A JEWISH LESBIAN WRITER, Lesléa Newman; Chapter 5 A GAY ORTHODOX RABBI, Steve Greenberg; Chapter 6 JEWISH DYKE BABY-MAKING, Hadar Dubowsky; Chapter 7 A YOUNG MAN FROM CHELM: OR A NONTRADITIONALLY CENDERED HEBREW SCHOOL TEACHER TELLS ALL, Jaron Kanegson; Chapter 8 QUEER NAKED SEDER: AND OTHER NEWISH JEWISH TRADITIONS, Jill Nagle; Chapter 9 WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?: TRANSGENDER AT THE WESTERN WALL, TJ Michels, Ali Cannon; Chapter 10 IN THE ARON KODESH: WRESTLING WITH THE RABBINIC CLOSET, Anonymous; Part 3 INSTITUTIONS; Chapter 11 KOL SASON V'KOL SIMCHA, KOL KALAH V'KOL KALAH: SAME GENDER WEDDINGS AND SPIRITUAL RENEWAL, Jane Rachel Litman; Chapter 12 WITHOUT STANDING DOWN: THE FIRST QUEER JEWISH STREET PROTEST, Jonathan Krasner; Chapter 13 OUT AT SCHOOL: A QUEER JEWISH EDUCATION, David Shneer; Chapter 14 BREAKING GROUND: A TRADITIONAI JEWISH LESBIAN WEDDING, Inbal Kashtan; Chapter 15 REMARKING FAMILY: CANADIAN JEWS, SEXUALITY, AND RELATIONSHIPS, oscar wolfman; Chapter 16 REMEMBERING THE STRANGER: IDENTITY, COMMUNITY, AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, Joanne Cohen; Part 4 CULTURE; Chapter 17 LOST JEWISH (MALE) SOULS: A MIDRASH ON ANCELS IN AMERICA AND THE PRODUCERS, Jyl Lynn Felman; Chapter 18 OUTING THE ARCHIVES: FROM THE CELLULOID CLOSET TO THE ISLE OF KLEZBOS, Eve Sicular; Chapter 19 TREMBLING ON THE ROAD: A SIMCHA DIARY, Sandi Simcha Dubowski; Chapter 20 ISRAELI GAYS AND LESBIANS ENCOUNTER ZIONISM, Ruti Kadish; Chapter 21 ALL POINTS BULLETIN: JEWISH DYKES ADOPTING CHILDREN, Marla Brettschneider; Chapter 22 NEXT YEAR IN FREEDOM!: TAKING OUR SEDER TO THE STREETS, Jo Hirschmann, Elizabeth Wilson;

About the Author :
David Shneer is Assistant Professor of History and Jewish Studies at the University of Denver and former Director of Education at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav in San Francisco. Caryn Aviv is a sociologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who currently directs the Program for Collaborative Care at the UCSF Breast Care Center.

Review :
"Queer Jews is so exuberantly queer that it changes the old adage, 'When you're in love, the whole world is Jewish' to 'When you're in heat, the whole world is.' This collection from women and men is chock full of shtemme,' soul." -- Lambda Book Report "Queer Jews welcomes us into the worlds and the lives of Jews who identify as queer: lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. These twenty-one essays-by Hebrew school teachers, principals, rabbis, Jews in the pews, and those who define themselves as secular-challenge readers to wrestle not only with sexual diversity, but also with gender identity...The contributors to this bold collection write with clarity, a healthy measure of chutzpah, and hope that their words will establish a permanent place of recognition and honor for the thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning Jews who gather at family and communal tables across our Jewish world." -- LILITH "We've been long overdue for the book that shows where queer Jewish thought has been over the last few years-and more importantly-where it's headed. Queer Jews addresses just about every aspect of queer Jewish experience, and does so with insight, humor, and a whole lot of chutzpah. This book has vitally important things to teach anyone and everyone who picks it up." -- Danya Ruttenberg, editor of Yentl's Revenge: The Next Wave of JewishFeminism "Shneer and Aviv have assembled a first-rate collection of essays that will permanently alter all perceptions about Queer Jews. These vivid, cutting edge tales of the lives of transgender, bisexual, gay and lesbian Jews delight and challenge. If this book reflects the state of queer thinking in Jewish life, we may indeed count our blessings." -- Rebecca Alpert, author of Like Bread onthe Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformationof Tradition "A youthful vision of the dynamic intersection of what it means to be Jewish and gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered. Bravo/a to the editors for compiling such a wide-ranging spectrum of thinking on the topic." -- Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Congregation Kol Ami, West Hollywood's Reform Synagogue "Fresh, original, and provocative essays will challenge readers of Queer Jews to think more deeply about being Jewish, gendered, and sexed. A rare book, with new and exciting ideas." -- Susannah Heschel, co-editor of OnBeing a Jewish Feminist "In the best prophetic tradition, Queer Jews pushes the envelope of possibilities for what Jewish community and identity can be." -- Rabbi Yoel H. Kahn, scholar-in-residence, Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco "Queer Jews is a fun book which delicately balances politics and humor, GBLT and Jewish identity and humanity with spirituality...[The authors'] voices, and the stories they told, made me laugh, made me cry, and made me think. Don't forget to buy a few copies for your parents, rabbis, friends and lovers." -- The Empty Closet "The book should appeal to a wide readership. The first-person story of Steve Greenberg, an openly gay Orthodox rabbi, is as inspiring as the confession-style tribulations of anonymous, closeted rabbinical students are painful. Eve Sicular plumbs the academic depths of Yiddish cinema, finding queer contexts from the 1930's in films like Yidl Mitn Fidl. Meanwhile Sandi Simcha Dubowski's free-form diary charts the progress of his truly ground-breaking film, Trembling Before G-d, as he took it to film festivals across the globe, offering proof that there are queers who are also quite frum (religiously observant) despite the real threat of excommunications from their congregations." -- Gay City News "The collection has taken important strides in redefining the boundaries of Jewish America, as well as the Queer community, by insisting that the voices of Queer Jews be heard--and accounted for." -- Gender Agenda