Are jews allowed to be gay

Lamm, in: Jewish Life35 —68no. The Bible refers to actual incidents involving homosexuality only in describing the abominations of the sinful city of Sodom, where the entire population demanded of Lot the surrender of his visitors that we may know them Gen.

For the Talmudic period, too, the records know of very few such incidents see TJ, Sanh. Reform Judaism has a long and proud history of working for the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in Jewish life and for their full civil rights.

Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. Among the sexual perversions proscribed as criminal offenses in the moral code of the Torah are homosexual relations between males Lev. Both offending parties are threatened with capital punishment Lev. Talmudic law extends the prohibition, but not the penalty, which is limited to flagellation, also to lesbianism, i.

Steven Greenberg, a gay Jewish educator who was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi, writes and lectures on the possibilities for gays and lesbians in the Orthodox community. Do homosexuals fit into the Jewish community?. Jewish law, then, rejected the view that homosexuality was to be regarded merely as a disease or as morally neutral, categorically rejecting the view that homosexual acts “between two consenting adults” were to be judged by the same criterion as heterosexual marriage – that is, whether they were intended to foster a permanent relation of.

To this end, R. Judah forbade two bachelors to sleep together under one blanket Kid. Yet, a century later, R. A third objection is seen in the damage to family life, by the homosexual abandoning his wife Tos. Asher to Ned. Epstein, Sex Laws and Customs in Judaism, 64f.

The consensus seems to be that touch between gay men which involves sexual desire is rabbinically forbidden, while touch which does not involve sexual desire is permitted. [16] Another issue is the prohibition of yichud (seclusion of two individuals together in a manner that would allow them to have sex).

This omission reflects the perceived absence of homosexuality among Jews rather than any difference of views on the criminality of these acts. Numerous organizations and support groups exist for gay Jews who are interested in maintaining a traditional Jewish lifestyle.

An instructive indication of the rare incidence of homosexuality among Jews may also be found in the interesting history of a legal enactment designed to prevent it. All Rights Reserved. Shneer and K. Aviv eds. Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library.

Question: According to Jewish law, how should a person react to homosexual feelings? Boyarin et al.