Editing Jewish views on homosexuality (section)

==Rabbinic Jewish application and interpretation of these verses==

===Prohibitions for homosocial interaction===

The laws of {{transliteration|he|[[negiah]]}} prohibit affectionate touch between an unmarried man and woman (except close relatives), [[Judaism and sexuality|because this touch is considered "approaching" a forbidden relationship.]]<ref>[[Sifre]], Acharei Mot, 13:2; [[Mishneh Torah]], Issurei Biah 21:1; Maimonides and Nahmanides debate whether this law is biblical or rabbinic.</ref> As gay male sex is included in the category of {{transliteration|he|[[Forbidden relationships in Judaism|arayot]]}} along with other sexual prohibitions,<ref>[[Mishneh Torah]], Issurei Biah 1:4</ref> the prohibition of {{transliteration|he|negiah}} would seem to also apply between two [[gay men]]. Nevertheless, some sources raise the possibility that the law may be more lenient for two men than for a man and a woman.<ref>For example, [[Yosef Shalom Elyashiv]] (Kobetz Teshuvot 3:184): דווקא בבא על הזכר, אבל בבא דרך איברים על הזכר לא שייך איסור וחיוב מלקות על הקריבה... שהרי לדעת הרמב"ם בכלל איסור קריבה גם חיבוק ונישוק, ואיסור זה לא שייך באיש לאיש... אמנם ודאי חיבוק ונישוק זכר לזכר אין בכלל הלאו הנ"ל, ובזה יש לומר דהוי ליה כאב לבתו ואם לבנה... אבל בזכר הבא על אחר דרך איברים מנא לן לחלק בזה, והרי לפי המנחת חינוך בבא על הזכר חייב גם על הקריבה? אכן ממה שכתב הרמב"ם בפרק א' מאיסורי ביאה... וכתב המגיד משנה... משמע שאין בזה אלא איסור מדבריהם..."</ref> 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.<ref name=yr>Yonatan Rosensweig, התמודדות מקראית פרשנית הלכתית ומחשבתית עם משכב זכר</ref>

Another issue is the prohibition of {{transliteration|he|[[yichud]]}} (seclusion of two individuals together in a manner that would allow them to have sex). The Talmud records a debate over whether {{transliteration|he|yichud}} applies to any two men.<ref>Mishna Kiddushin 4:14; Kiddushin 82a</ref> [[Maimonides]], [[Arbaah Turim|Tur]], and [[Shulchan Aruch]] rule leniently that {{transliteration|he|yichud}} of two men is permitted, because "Jews are not suspected of homosexual sex".<ref>[[Mishneh Torah]], Issurei Biah 22:2; Tur Even Haezer 24:1; Shulchan Aruch Even Haezer 24:1</ref> Nevertheless, the Shulchan Aruch recommended to avoid such {{transliteration|he|yichud}}, "in these generations where promiscuous people are common" (possibly a reference to the use of [[Köçek]] dancer-prostitutes in the Ottoman Empire at the time). However, this recommendation was not repeated by later authorities.<ref>For example: Yam Shel Shlomo, Kiddushin 4:23; [[Moshe Isserles|Rema]], Yoreh Deah 153:1; [[Vilna Gaon]], Yoreh Deah 153:3; [[Aruch Hashulchan]], Even Haezer 24:6</ref>

Based on the precedents that {{transliteration|he|yichud}} can apply to two men in a circumstance where homosexual behavior is a concern, a modern [[Halakha|halakhic]] authority rules that two men cannot be alone together if both of them are homosexual.<ref name=stav>[https://www.tzohar.org.il/wp-content/uploads/memalef.pdf דיני ייחוד לבעלי נטייה חד־מינית] (p. 81-100)</ref> Opinions also exist that the prohibition only applies to two men who are in a relationship with each other, or that there is no technical prohibition at all if they are confident they can avoid forbidden touch (but they should still avoid sharing a bedroom).<ref name=yr/>

===Applicability of Biblical death penalty===
{{see also|Capital punishment for homosexuality}}

Like many similar commandments, the stated punishment for willful violation was the [[death penalty]], though minors under 13 years of age were exempt from this, as from any other penalty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.54a.29|title=Sanhedrin 54a:29|website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> However, even in Biblical times, it was very difficult to get a conviction that would lead to this prescribed punishment. The Jewish [[Oral Torah|Oral Law]] states that capital punishment would be applicable [[Gay sexual practices|only if two men were caught in the act of anal sex]], if there were two witnesses to the act, if the men involved were warned that they committed a capital offense, and the two men—or the willing party, in case of rape—subsequently acknowledged the warning but continued to engage in the prohibited act anyway. In fact, there is no account of capital punishment, in regards to this law, in Jewish history.

Rabbinic tradition understands the Torah's system of capital punishment to not be in effect for the past approximately 2,000 years, in the absence of a [[Sanhedrin]] and [[The Third Temple|Temple]].<ref name=levine97>{{cite journal |author=Samuel J. Levine| year=1997–1998|title=Capital Punishment in Jewish Law and its Application to the American Legal System: A Conceptual Overview|url=http://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=scholarlyworks |journal=St. Mary's Law Journal |volume=29 |pages=1037–1051}}</ref> The relative absence of anti-homosexual prosecutions is also linked to the Jewish belief that [[Heteronormativity|homosexuality did not exist in the community]].<ref name=":1" />

[[Rabbinic literature|Classical rabbinic Jewish sources]] do not specifically mention that [[Androphilia and gynephilia|homosexual attraction]] is inherently sinful. In fact, the mental and emotional feelings two men experience when they engage in intimate relations are not condemned. However, they are condemned if intercourse, commonly interpreted as [[Sexual penetration|penetrative sex]],<ref name=":1" /> occurs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/orthodox-judaism-and-lgbtq-issues/|title=Orthodox Judaism and LGBTQ Issues}}</ref> If the man caught does {{transliteration|he|[[teshuva]]}} (repentance), i.e., he ceases his forbidden actions, regrets what he has done, apologizes to God, and makes a binding resolution never to repeat those actions, he is seen to be forgiven by God.<ref>Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance, Chapter 2</ref>

===Lesbian sexual activity===
Although [[lesbian]]ism is not explicitly prohibited in the Hebrew Bible, [[Lesbian sexual practices|sexual liaisons between women]] are forbidden by Orthodox [[rabbinical literature]]. The Talmud discusses [[tribadism]] (women rubbing genitals together, or {{transliteration|he|nashim mesolelot}}) without explicitly prohibiting it; the main concern was whether or not this activity removed their status as a [[Virginity|virgin]], making them ineligible to marry a member of [[Kohanim|the priesthood]]. However, the [[Sifra]] condemned marriage between two women, considering it within the category of licentious foreign behavior which is forbidden to Jews.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{Bibleverse|Leviticus|18:3|HE}}</ref><ref>Sifra, Acharei Mot 13:10</ref> Following this lead, later [[Halakha|halakhic]] codes prohibited tribadism on the same grounds.<ref>[[Mishneh Torah]], Issurei Biah 21:8</ref>  Maimonides recommended flagellation as a penalty for lesbian acts, rather than the death penalty.<ref>Encyclopaedia Judaica | vol 9 | second edition | pg 518 | Homosexuality</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=History of Jewish Lesbianism |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/history-of-jewish-lesbianism/ |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref> Lesbianism was considered a less serious offense than male homosexuality for a few reasons; most notably, lesbian sexual acts were not explicitly prohibited in the Torah and rabbinic scholars did not consider tribadism "true" intercourse.<ref name=":1" /> Since there is not necessarily penetration involved in lesbian sex, the sages did not believe that lesbianism impacted a woman's virginity or marriageability, and therefore lesbian activity was regarded as only a minor offense.<ref name=":3" />

===Same-sex marriage in Midrash===
{{main|Same-sex marriage and Judaism}}
{{See also|Jewish views on marriage}}

[[Sifra]] states: "'Like the deeds of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, you shall not do'<ref name="ReferenceA"/> – What would they do? A man would marry a man, a woman would marry a woman..."<ref>Sifra, on Leviticus 18:3</ref>

Nonetheless, some contemporary scholars believe that same-sex marriage is theoretically permissible because {{transliteration|he|[[Kiddushin (Talmud)|kiddushin]]}} sanctifies the relationship between the spouses rather than the "sexual intimacies" they commit. The [[Same-sex marriage and Judaism|permissibility of same-sex marriage]] is also compared to the permissibility of marriage between a divorcee and a male descendant of a {{transliteration|he|[[kohen]]}} (priest). The latter is accepted by adherents of Conservative Judaism because they believe the ethical components of Judaism, exemplified by justice and compassion, [[Graded absolutism|trump the legal components]].<ref name=":1" />

==== Reasons for the prohibition ====

Reasons suggested by the rabbis for the prohibition on gay male sex include the following:
* The rationale for abstaining homosexuality extends beyond not emulating the [[Canaanites]]<ref>cf. Babylonian Talmud Yoma 67b</ref>
* It is considered a defiance of [[Sex organ|sexual anatomy]], which is unlike God's intention of procreation and sexual activity<ref name=re>
{{Citation|last=Eisenberg|first=Ronald|year= 2005|title=The 613 Mitzvot: A Contemporary Guide to the Commandments of Judaism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maeV2EG_eZMC|publisher=Schreiber Publishing|isbn=0-88400-303-5|page=325}}; a similar list appears in {{Citation|last=Lamm|first=Maurice|date=1991|title=The Jewish Way in Love and Marriage|publisher=Jonathan David Publishers, Inc.|isbn=0-8246-0353-2}}</ref>
* The [[sexual arousal]] involved results in a vain emission of [[semen]]<ref name=re/>
* It may lead a man to abandon his family to pursue a homosexual relationship<ref>[[Tosafot]], the [[Asher ben Jehiel|Rosh]] and the [[Nissim of Gerona|Ran]]</ref><ref name=roth1/><ref name=re/>
* It is non-[[Reproduction|procreative]]<ref>''Pesikta Zutrasa''; [[Nachmanides]]; ''[[Sefer Hachinuch]]''</ref><ref name=roth1>Rabbi Joel Roth. [https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/assets/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19912000/roth_homosexual.pdf Homosexuality] ''rabbinicalassembly.org'' 1992.</ref>
* It blurs the lines between masculinity and femininity<ref name=":1" />