29. ACHARAI MOT

Emerging Torah of Same-Sex Marriage

29. ACHARAI MOT | Covenanting: Marriage and Commitment | Justice and Gender | Sexuality & Spirituality

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Twice in the Torah portion of "Acharei mot" we are told, "You shall not lie with a man as in lying with a woman." (Lev. 18: 22 and 20: 13). Today this has become perhaps the world's most contentious Torah teaching, far beyond the Jewish people.

Some have argued it prohibits all male-male sexuality. Others have argued that the verse must mean something else, for this "lying with" seems anatomically impossible. Is it only about casual or ritual homosexuality, not committed relationships? How did some of the greatest rabbis of the "Golden Age" in Spain write glowing erotic poems about male-male sex?

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29. ACHARAI MOT

Emerging Torah of Same-Sex Marriage

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