Editing Jewish views on homosexuality

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[[File:2018.06.09 Capital Pride Parade, Washington, DC USA 03169 (28839713068).jpg|thumb|upright|300px|Jewish [[Rainbow flag (LGBTQ)|pride flag]] with the [[Star of David]] at a [[Pride parade]].]]
{{Infobox Halacha
| image = File:Jewish LGBTQ Pride Flag.svg
| caption = The [[Star of David|star of David]] on a [[Rainbow flag (LGBTQ)|rainbow flag]]
|name = LGBTQ people and Judaism
|verse = Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{bibleverse|Leviticus|18:22|HE}}, {{bibleverse|Leviticus|20:13|HE}}</ref>
<!-- | talmud = Sanhedrin 54a — and where else? -->
|rambam = {{ubl|For men: Issurei Bi'ah 1:14,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/960647/jewish/Chapter-One.htm#footnoteRef44a960647|title=Issurei Biah - Chapter One - Chabad.org}}</ref> 21:18<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/960669/jewish/Chapter-Twenty-One.htm#footnoteRef50a960669|title=Issurei Biah - Chapter Twenty One - Chabad.org}}</ref>|For women: Issurei Bi'ah 21:8<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/960669/jewish/Chapter-Twenty-One.htm#footnoteRef21a960669|title=Issurei Biah - Chapter Twenty One - Chabad.org}}</ref>}}
}}

The subject of [[homosexuality]] and [[Judaism]] dates back to the [[Torah]]. The book of Vayikra ([[Leviticus]]) is traditionally regarded as classifying sexual intercourse between males as a {{transliteration|he|[[to'eivah]]}} (something abhorred or detested) that could be subject to capital punishment by the contemporary [[Sanhedrin]] under [[halakha]] (Jewish law).

The issue has been a subject of contention within modern [[Jewish religious movements|Jewish denominations]], and has led to debate and division. Traditionally, Judaism has seen homosexual male [[Sexual intercourse|intercourse]] as contrary to Judaism, not homosexuality in-and-of-itself. This opinion is often still maintained by [[Orthodox Judaism]].

[[Conservative Judaism]]'s [[Committee on Jewish Law and Standards]], which until December 2006 held the same position as Orthodoxy, has since issued multiple opinions under its philosophy of [[Pluralism (sociology)|pluralism]]; one opinion continues to follow the Orthodox position while another opinion substantially liberalizes the view of homosexual sex and relationships (while continuing to regard certain sexual acts as prohibited).<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Conservative Halakhah and Homosexuality |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/conservative-halakhah-and-homosexuality/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Religious Liberalism|Theologically liberal]] branches such as [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist]], [[Humanistic Judaism|Humanistic]], and [[Reform Judaism]] have all openly accepted homosexuality, homosexual intercourse, and [[same-sex marriage]].

==Homosexuality in the Torah==
{{Further|The Bible and homosexuality|Leviticus 18#Homosexuality}}

The [[Book of Leviticus]] refers to [[Gay sexual practices|male homosexual sexual practices]] twice ([[Jewish Publication Society of America Version|JPS]] translation):

{{verse translation|lang=hbo|italicsoff=y|rtl1=y|{{Script/Hebrew|.וְאֶת-זָכָר, לֹא תִשְׁכַּב מִשְׁכְּבֵי אִשָּׁה — תּוֹעֵבָה הִוא}}|Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is detestable.<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible''{{Bibleverse|Leviticus|18:22|HE}}</ref>}}

{{verse translation|lang=hbo|italicsoff=y|rtl1=y|{{Script/Hebrew|.וְאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב אֶת-זָכָר מִשְׁכְּבֵי אִשָּׁה — תּוֹעֵבָה עָשׂוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם. מוֹת יוּמָתוּ; דְּמֵיהֶם בָּם}}|And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed a detestable act: They shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.<ref>''Hebrew-English Bible'' {{Bibleverse|Leviticus|20:13|HE}}</ref>}}

Several commentators believe that the verses specifically condemn the practice of [[sodomy]] (i.e. [[anal intercourse]] between two males).<ref name=":2">{{cite web |title=Translations and interpretations of Leviticus 18:22; all views |url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/interpreting-Leviticus-18-22.htm |access-date=19 June 2019 |website=www.religioustolerance.org}}</ref><ref>Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 54a and b; Josephus, Against Apion 2.199; and Philo, Abraham 135. Some modern authors stating this view include {{harvp|Alter|2004|p=623, 632}}; {{harvp|Boyarin|1995|p=339, 343}}; {{harvp|Brooten|1996|p=61}}; {{harvp|Cohen|1990|p=6}}; {{harvp|Daube|1986|p=447}}; {{harvp|Milgrom|2000|p=1568}}; {{harvp|Olyan|1994|p=185}}; {{harvp|Thurston|1990|p=16}}; and {{harvp|Walsh|2001|p=208}}.</ref>{{sfnp|Brodsky|2009}} Rabbinic thought supports this view, condemning homosexuality as an example of "unnatural intercourse" compared to the "natural intercourse" between non-related men and women. Intercourse in both scenarios only occur if penetration exists.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Moss |first1=Jacob A. |last2=Ulmer |first2=Rivka B. Kern |date=2008 |title="Two Men Under One Cloak"—The Sages Permit it: Homosexual Marriage in Judaism |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00918360802129337 |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=71–105 |doi=10.1080/00918360802129337 |pmid=18928046 |s2cid=39050949 |via=Taylor & Francis Online}}</ref>

Deuteronomy 23:17 tells followers: "None of the daughters of Israel shall be a [[Qedesha|kedeshah]], nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a [[Qedesha|Kadesh]]." This has been interpreted as prohibiting the "sons of Israel" from serving as a [[Male prostitution|homosexual temple prostitute in a pagan cult]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/23-17.htm|title=Deuteronomy 23:17 No daughter or son of Israel is to be a cult prostitute.|website=biblehub.com|access-date=2019-10-08}}</ref>

==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" />

==Orthodox Jewish views==
[[File:Homophobic protestors-02. Haifa 2010.jpg|thumb|[[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] protesters holding Anti-LGBT Protest signs during the Gay Pride parade in [[Haifa]], [[Israel]] (2010)]]

While a variety of views regarding homosexuality exist within the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] community, Orthodox Judaism generally prohibits homosexual conduct. While there is some disagreement about which male homosexual acts violate core prohibitions, the majority of Orthodox Judaism puts male-male [[anal sex]] in the category of {{transliteration|he|[[Self-sacrifice in Jewish law|yehareg]] ve'al ya'avor}} (lit. "die rather than transgress"). This is a small category of biblically-prohibited acts{{NoteTag|The three acts prohibited under yehareg ve'al ya'avor are forbidden relationships (e.g. homosexuality, incest, or adultery), murder, and idolatry.}} which an Orthodox Jew is obligated to die rather than do.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kamoha.org.il/?p=15953|title=משכב זכר נכלל בגדר ''ייהרג ובל יעבור''?|date=August 27, 2013}}</ref> While almost any Jewish law may be broken to save a life under the principle of [[pikuach nefesh]], the sages determined that Jews must observe these laws, even at the cost of their own lives. According to the Talmud, homosexual acts are not necessarily forbidden between non-Jews, though [[same-sex marriage]] is forbidden.<ref>cf. Talmud (Chullin 92a)</ref> There are numerous references in the Torah to non-Jews engaging in homosexuality, including the Egyptians<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Leviticus.18.3?lang=bi&aliyot=0<br>Sefaria – The Contemporary Torah, JPS, 2006.]</ref><ref>[https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/20052010/dorff_nevins_reisner_dignity.pdf<br>Homosexuality, human dignity and halakah – Rabbinical Assembly.]</ref> and the Canaanites.<ref>[https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/resources-ideas/source-sheets/tol-parashot/aharei-mot-k-doshim.pdf<br>Homosexuality and Halakah: A Second Look at the Sources – Rabbinical Assembly.]</ref> Traditionally, Judaism only accepts heterosexual intercourse within marriage; some scholars have described adultery, celibacy, homosexuality, incest and bestiality as existing on a spectrum of wrongdoing.<ref>{{cite book|author=David L. Balch|title=Homosexuality, Science, and the "plain Sense" of Scripture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pCEjNJexFYC&pg=PA293|year=2000|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-4698-3|pages=293–|quote=Judaism's sexual ideal is marital sex; all other forms of sexual behavior deviate from that ideal. There is a continuum of wrong from premarital sex, to celibacy, to adultery, to homosexuality, incest, and bestiality.}}</ref>

In a speech given in 1986, the [[Lubavicher rebbe|Lubavitcher Rebbe]], Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, discussed "individuals who express an inclination towards a particular form of physical relationship in which the libidinal gratification is sought with members of one's own gender." He wrote that homosexuality should not be accepted as immutable, but rather [[Conversion therapy|treated medically]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Rights or Ills |publisher=Jonah International |url=http://www.jonahweb.org/sections.php?secId=128 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302205821/https://www.jonahweb.org/sections.php?secId=128 |archive-date=March 2, 2015 }}</ref>

In a 2008 open letter distributed to Orthodox community leaders, the [[Hod (organization)|Hod]] organization appealed to the Orthodox community to recognize them as part of the religious society.<ref>{{cite news |author=Kobi Nahshoni | url = http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3504952,00.html | title = Religious homosexuals seek acceptance | date=February 10, 2008 | publisher=[[Ynetnews]] |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> Up to 2013, 163 Orthodox rabbis from Israel and abroad signed this statement, including [[Yuval Cherlow]], [[Binyamin Lau]], Haim Navon, [[Daniel Sperber]], [[Eliezer Melamed]], [[Shai Piron]], and [[Yehuda Gilad (politician)|Yehuda Gilad]].{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} In 2010, TorahWeb.org published a brief position statement entitled "Torah View on Homosexuality", co-authored by Ravs [[Hershel Schachter]], [[Mordechai Willig]], [[Michael Rosensweig]], and [[Mayer Twersky]], which reaffirmed their view of homosexuality as an abomination.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2010/homosexuality.html |title=Torah View on Homosexuality |publisher=Torahweb |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref>

On July 22, 2010, a "Statement of Principles on the Place of Jews with a Homosexual Orientation in Our Community" was released.<ref>{{cite web |author=Nati Helfgot |date=July 28, 2010 |url=http://statementofprinciplesnya.blogspot.com/ |title=Statement of Principles |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> It was written primarily by [[Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot|Nathaniel Helfgot]], [[Rabbi Aryeh Klapper|Aryeh Klapper]], and [[Yitzchak Blau]]. Signatories include more than a hundred rabbis and laypeople. This statement again reaffirms that homosexual activity is forbidden under halacha, but is sympathetic to "Jews with a homosexual orientation." It does not promote conversion therapy or opposite-sex marriage for gay Jews, urges communities not to ostracize gay Jews and their families, and in regard to gay marriage, states that "each synagogue together with its rabbi must establish its own standard with regard to membership for open violators of halakha."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137251 |title=RCA: No Female Rabbis |publisher=Israel National News |date=2010-04-27 |access-date=2012-07-24}}</ref>

An edict signed by dozens of Israeli Orthodox rabbis and published in 2016 by the Israeli Modern Orthodox rabbinic group Beit Hillel, a group which promotes inclusiveness in Orthodox Judaism, stated, in part, "According to the Torah and halacha, the [same-sex sexual] acts are forbidden, but not the proclivities, and therefore, people with same-sex tendencies, men and women, have no invalidation in halacha or tradition. They are obligated by the commandments of the Torah, they can fulfill a [ritual] obligation on behalf of the public, and carry out all of the community functions just like any member."<ref name="The Times of Israel">{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/dozens-of-orthodox-rabbis-call-for-accepting-gay-congregants/|title=Dozens of Orthodox rabbis call for accepting gay congregants|work=The Times of Israel}}</ref> It also stated, in part, "Just as it [is] inconceivable to mock someone for being physically, behaviorally, or mentally different, so too those with same-sex tendencies should not be mocked. On the contrary, those around them—family and community—should show special feeling for them, and apply to them the Torah commandment of 'Love thy neighbor as thyself' and to be diligent in avoiding the prohibition of insulting another."<ref name="The Times of Israel"/>

Rabbi Dr. [[Immanuel Jakobovits]] describes the traditional opinion on homosexuality as follows: "Jewish law{{nbsp}}[...] rejects the view that homosexuality is to be regarded merely as a disease or as morally neutral... Jewish law holds that no hedonistic ethic, even if called "love", can justify the morality of homosexuality any more than it can legitimize [[adultery]] or [[incest]], however genuinely such acts may be performed out of love and by mutual consent."<ref>In his entry ''Homosexuality'' in the ''[[Encyclopedia Judaica]]'' ([[Keter Publishing]])</ref> Rabbi [[Norman Lamm]] argued that some (although not all) homosexuals should be viewed as diseased and in need of compassion and treatment, rather than willful rebels who should be ostracized. He distinguishes between six varieties of homosexuals, including "genuine homosexuals" who have "strong preferential erotic feelings for members of the same sex", "transitory" and "situational" homosexuals who would prefer heterosexual intercourse but are denied it or seek gain in homosexuality, and heterosexuals who are merely curious.<ref>{{cite web|title=Judaism and the Modern Attitude to Homosexuality &#124; 2002 |author=Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm |url=http://www.jonahweb.org/sections.php?secId=90 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302184904/https://www.jonahweb.org/sections.php?secId=90 |archive-date=March 2, 2015 }}</ref>

===Prominent Gay Orthodox Jews===

American Orthodox rabbi [[Steven Greenberg (rabbi)|Steven Greenberg]] came out as gay in 1999 to a significant response from rabbis of all denominations. Rabbi [[Moshe Tendler]], a leading rabbi at [[Yeshiva University]], stated, "It is very sad that an individual who attended our yeshiva sunk to the depths of what we consider a depraved society."<ref>{{cite news |title=Rabbi Ordained by Yeshiva University Announces He is Gay |publisher=Israel Wire |date=May 18, 1999 |url=http://www.israelwire.com/New/990518/99051844.html |access-date=April 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000306064752/http://www.israelwire.com/New/990518/99051844.html |archive-date=March 6, 2000 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> As Greenberg has a [[semichah|rabbinic ordination]] from the Orthodox rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University ([[RIETS]]), he is often described as the first openly gay Orthodox Jewish rabbi.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/11/national/11bishop.html?scp=4&sq=Rabbi%20Steven%20Greenberg&st=cse| title=Bishop Says Conflict on Gays Distracts From Vital Issues| work=[[The New York Times]] | date=11 September 2004| access-date=18 November 2011 | author=Goodstein, Laurie}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1425657,00.html | title=Judaism and the gay dilemma | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=26 February 2005 | access-date=16 November 2011 | author=Rocker, Simon | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/07/an-interview-with-rabbi-s_n_638679.html| title= An Interview With Rabbi Steven Greenberg: Orthodox And Gay | work=[[Huffington Post]]| date=7 July 2010| access-date=16 November 2011 | author=Neroulias, Nicole}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/07/an-interview-with-rabbi-s_n_638679.html
| title= Gay And Orthodox, According To Jon Marans | work=[[The Jewish Week]]| date=19 July 2011 | access-date=16 November 2011 | author=Merwin, Ted}}</ref> Greenberg faced backlash in 2011 for officiating a same-sex wedding. The civil ceremony was not a [[Kiddushin (Talmud)|kiddushin]], which is not permitted for same-sex couples, and therefore not recognized under Jewish law. In response, a group of Orthodox Rabbis issued an open letter denouncing the ceremony and Greenberg's ordination. Greenberg's ordination remains valid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2011/12/05/100-orthodox-rabbis-issue-same-sex-marriage-declaration/ |title=100 Orthodox Rabbis Issue Same Sex Marriage Declaration |publisher=algemeiner.com |date=5 December 2011 |access-date=19 April 2013}}</ref>

Orthodox Israeli rabbi [[Ron Yosef]] became in 2009 the first Israeli Orthodox Rabbi to come out, by appearing in [[Uvda (TV program)|Uvda]] ("Fact"), Israel's leading investigative television program, in an episode regarding [[conversion therapies]] in Israel.<ref>{{cite video|author=Yermi Brenner |date=2009 |title=Gay Rabbi Comes Out of His Orthodox Closet |publisher=VJ Movement |url=http://www.vjmovement.com/truth/537 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112130252/http://www.vjmovement.com/truth/537 |archive-date=November 12, 2013 }}</ref> Yosef remains in his position as a pulpit Rabbi.<ref name="yn">{{cite news |author=Nissan Strauchler |date=February 16, 2010 |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3849500,00.html |title=Gay with perfect faith |publisher=[[Ynetnews]] |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> Yosef testified that his Yemenite congregation did not accept him being a homosexual very easily and it took them a while to accept it. Yosef received death threats in the year leading up to the [[2009 Tel Aviv gay centre shooting]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Kobi Nahshoni |date=August 2, 2009 |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3755595,00.html |title=Rabbis condemn anti-gay shooting |publisher=[[Ynetnews]] |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> In 2013, he stated he was in a relationship with a man.<ref>minute 00:39 in a radio interview with Razi Barkay here [https://web.archive.org/web/20131219122839/http://player.glz.co.il/Player.aspx?FixedPoster=true&FixedPosterName=GLZAOD.jpg&ClipID=131218-10&Type=aod&Width=300&Height=200])</ref> Yosef has stated his approach to the issue of homosexuality in Judaism as follows: "It is clear to me that lying with another man is forbidden, and our starting point is commitment to [[halacha]] and Torah. The goal is not to seek permission. But you need to give us a shoulder and support."<ref name="yn" />

In 2019 Daniel Atwood became the first openly gay Orthodox person to be ordained as a rabbi; he was ordained by the rabbi Daniel Landes, in Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/opinion/425242/this-was-a-week-of-jewish-blessings-gay-orthodox-ordination-an-80-person/?gamp|title = This Was a Week of Jewish Blessings: Gay, Orthodox Ordination, an 80-Person B'nei Mitzvah, and a Spelling Bee| date=31 May 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/first-openly-gay-orthodox-rabbi-ordained-in-jerusalem-1.7300255 |title=First openly gay Orthodox rabbi ordained in Jerusalem - Israel News |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=2019-05-28 |access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref> In October 2023, ''[[The Forward]]'' reported about Shua Brick, "experts say that Brick is the first openly gay rabbi to serve on the clergy of an Orthodox synagogue in the U.S.",<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/news/563113/shua-brick-gay-orthodox-rabbi-oakland/|title=Orthodox Judaism has its first openly gay congregational rabbi. This is his story.|date=October 5, 2023|website=The Forward}}</ref> explaining that Brick "runs the youth program, leads Torah study for adults, and fills in when the senior rabbi is out of town" at Beth Jacob Congregation in Oakland, California, where he started coming out as gay to members of the congregation over a year prior to October 2023. He was ordained by Yeshiva University.<ref name="auto"/>

===Ex-gay organizations===
{{further|Ex-gay movement}}

[[JONAH]] was a Jewish [[ex-gay]] organization that focuses on "prevention, intervention, and healing of the underlying issues causing same-sex attractions".<ref name=MissionStatement>{{cite web |url=http://www.jonahweb.org |title=JONAH'S Mission Statement |access-date=April 6, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070329160520/http://jonahweb.org/ |archive-date=March 29, 2007 }}</ref> In 2012, four former clients of JONAH sued the organization for fraud, claiming that it sold them therapies that were ineffective and counterproductive.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite news |author=Jay Michaelson|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/01/orthodox-rabbis-say-gay-cure-therapy-doesn-t-work.html |title=Orthodox Rabbis Say Gay 'Cure' Therapy Doesn't Work |website=The Daily Beast |date=2012-08-02 |access-date=2012-12-03}}</ref> Soon after in that same year, the [[Rabbinical Council of America]] (RCA), a professional association of more than 1,000 Orthodox rabbis around the world, sent an open email to its members that it no longer supported [[conversion therapy]] generally, or JONAH specifically.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> In 2015, a New Jersey jury found JONAH guilty of consumer fraud for promising to be able to change its clients' sexual urges and determined its commercial practices to be unconscionable.<ref name=Livio>{{cite web|last1=Livio|first1=Susan K.|title=Group claiming to turn gay men straight committed consumer fraud, N.J. jury says|url=http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/06/gay_conversion_therapy_fraud_trial_verdict.html|website=NJ.com|agency=NJ Advance Media for NJ.com|publisher=New Jersey On-Line|date=June 25, 2015|access-date=September 23, 2015}}</ref> As part of the sentence, JONAH was required to cease all operations, but continued to operate under the name JIFGA until 2019, when it was found in violation of the previous order and shut down permanently.<ref>{{cite web |title=SPLC asks court to enforce order closing fraudulent 'conversion therapy' provider |url=https://www.splcenter.org/news/2018/03/28/splc-asks-court-enforce-order-closing-fraudulent-conversion-therapy-provider |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=7 August 2018 |language=en}}</ref> This final ruling also barred the executives of JIFGA from serving on the board of any nonprofit organization in the future.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-12 |title=Judge orders ‘conversion therapy’ provider to permanently cease operations once again |url=https://www.splcenter.org/resources/stories/judge-orders-conversion-therapy-provider-permanently-cease-operations-once-again/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=JTA |title=New Jersey-based Jewish gay conversion group ordered to shut down |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-gay-conversion-group-ordered-to-shut-down/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=www.timesofisrael.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Other viewpoints===
[[Jiří Langer|Jiří Mordechai Langer]], who studied in the Hasidic community of [[Belz]], arrived in Palestine in 1940. "His reconciliation of homosexuality and Judaism involved{{nbsp}}[...] a homosexual Jewish theology;{{nbsp}}[...] a sociology of Jewish homosexuality in Hasidism".<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Halper |first=Shaun Jacob |date=2013 |title=Mordechai Langer (1894–1943) and the Birth of the Modern Jewish Homosexual |type=PhD |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5zz859g4 |page=1}}</ref>

[[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]] Rabbi [[Avigdor Miller]] defended the [[Moscone–Milk assassinations|assassination of Harvey Milk]], saying "A decent gentile got up and shot him because of his spreading homosexuality".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shanes |first=Joshua |date=October 13, 2020 |title=The Evangelicalization of Orthodoxy |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/belief/articles/evangelicalization-orthodox-jews |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=[[Tablet (magazine)|Tablet]]}}</ref>

The late UK Chief Rabbi [[Jonathan Sacks]] wrote the foreword to Rabbi [[Chaim Rapoport]]'s book ''Judaism and Homosexuality: An Authentic Orthodox View''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rapoport|first=Rabbi Chaim|title=Judaism and Homosexuality: An Authentic Orthodox View|year=2004|publisher=Vallentine Mitchell|location=London; Portland, OR|isbn=978-0853034520}}</ref> In the foreword, Rabbi Sacks has written: "Compassion, sympathy, empathy, understanding – these are essential elements of Judaism. They are what homosexual Jews who care about Judaism need from us today."

[[Modern Orthodox]] leader Rabbi [[Aharon Lichtenstein]] is reported to have said that the intensity of Orthodox community's condemnation of homosexuality goes beyond what its status as a religious transgression warrants, and that he feels toward homosexual people "criticism, disapproval, but tempered with an element of sympathy".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4325509,00.html4 |publisher=[[Ynetnews]] |author=Kobi Nahshoni |title=Top rabbi: Soften attitude towards gays |date=January 1, 2013}}</ref> Rabbi Steven Greenberg, for example, argues that there are many sins considered to be [[Abomination (Judaism)|abominations]] in the Torah, homosexual men are disproportionately censured. While some Modern Orthodox congregations may still invite a person up for an [[Aliyah (Torah)|aliyah]] who is known not to keep kosher, the same is not always true of a man known to engage in same-sex sexual activity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Greenberg |first=Steven |title=Wrestling with God and men: homosexuality and the Jewish tradition |date=2004 |publisher=University of Wisconsin press |isbn=978-0-299-19090-3 |location=Madison, Wisconsin}}</ref>

In both the United States and in Israel several groups have sprung up in the last few years{{as of?|date=June 2024}} that seek to support those who identify as both Orthodox and homosexual; support Orthodox parents of LGBTQ children;<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2014/1/27/orthodox-and-out-of-the-closet |publisher=JNS |author=Maayan Jaffe |title=Orthodox and out of the closet |date=January 27, 2014 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202134648/http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2014/1/27/orthodox-and-out-of-the-closet |archive-date=February 2, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and promote understanding of homosexuality within Orthodox communities and among Orthodox rabbis. These include an umbrella organization called [[Eshel (organization)|Eshel]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eshelonline.org/ |title=Eshel |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031222829/http://www.eshelonline.org/ |archive-date=October 31, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the Gay and Lesbian Yeshiva Day School Alumni Association,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://GLYDSA.org |title=Frum Gay Jews' Home Page |publisher=Glydsa.org |access-date=2015-03-16}}</ref> the women's group OrthoDykes,<ref>[http://www.orthodykes.org/ Orthodykes.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518153408/http://www.orthodykes.org/ |date=May 18, 2014 }}<!-- redirects to http://www.eshelonline.org/ --></ref> the youth group [[JQYouth]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jqyouth.org/ |title=JQY |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> the American-Israeli group headquartered in Jerusalem [[Bat Kol (organization)|Bat Kol]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bat-kol.org/english/|title=English &#124; בת-קול &#124; ארגון לסביות דתיות|website=www.bat-kol.org}}</ref> and the Israeli group [[Hod (organization)|Hod]] ("Majesty").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hod.org.il/?en=1|title=Hod|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104220758/http://www.hod.org.il/?en=1|archive-date=2014-11-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ari Rabinovitch | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL1440981520080214 |work=Reuters |title=Orthodox gays in Israel find support in Web site |date=February 14, 2008 |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> In 2012, Hod held an advertising campaign against conversion therapies and for self-acceptance of the religious homosexual community in Israel.<ref>{{cite news |author=Sarah Karlan |date=March 19, 2013 |title=Guerilla Campaign Against Gay Conversion Launched In Orthodox Jewish Community |publisher=Buzzfeed |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/guerilla-anti-conversion-campaign-launched-in-orthodox-jewis |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> Online blogs and support groups have enabled many to find other Orthodox LGBTQ people with whom to share the conflict between Orthodox religious and social norms and LGBT self-identification.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/136001/lgbt-orthodox-jews-online?all=1|work=Tablet|title=For LGBT Orthodox Jews, Growth of Social Media Creates a Safe Space Online|date=June 26, 2013}}</ref>

Orthodox Rabbis [[Shmuley Boteach]] and Zev Farber have questioned the opposition of Orthodox groups to government recognition of same-sex civil marriages (or in Boteach's case, to state-sanctioned civil unions), arguing that although Judaism does not condone homosexuality, governments should not enforce any particular religion's view of marriage, and that conferring civil benefits to committed homosexual couples should be viewed as promoting family values.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach/gay-marriage-civil-unions_b_15152472.html|author=Shmuley Boteach|work=Huffington Post|title=What If Government Recognized Only Civil Unions and Left Marriage to Religion?|date=May 14, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://morethodoxy.org/2012/05/22/obamas-advocacy-of-gay-marriage-an-alternative-orthodox-response-by-rabbi-zev-farber/|author=Zev Farber|title=Obama's Advocacy of Gay Marriage: An Alternative Orthodox Response – by Rabbi Zev Farber|work=Morethodoxy|date=May 22, 2013}}</ref>

In October 2010, Boteach wrote an op-ed column in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' on homosexuality, arguing that he does not deny that there is a biblical prohibition on male same-sex relationships and a commandment for men and women to marry and have children.<ref name="auto11">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704361504575552203494330686|title=My Jewish Perspective on Homosexuality; I tell gay couples they still have 611 of the Torah's 613 rules to keep them busy.|author=Boteach, Shmuley|date=October 15, 2010|work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> Still, he understands those in context.<ref name="auto11"/> "There are 613 commandments in the Torah... So when Jewish gay couples tell me they have never been attracted to members of the opposite sex and are desperate alone, I tell them "You have 611 commandments left. That should keep you busy. Now, go create a kosher home{{nbsp}}[...] you are His beloved children."<ref name="auto11"/> Five years later he wrote that he believed in the equality of all of God's children, and has seen too much [[homophobia]] in his life.<ref name="auto13">{{Cite web|url=https://observer.com/2015/07/gay-marriage-and-the-end-of-days/|work=The Observer|title=Gay Marriage and the End of Days|first=Shmuley |last= Boteach |date=July 1, 2015}}</ref> He believes that the biggest threat to marriage does not come from gay marriage, but heterosexual divorce, which he says afflicts half of marriages.<ref name="auto13"/> He [[Marriage privatization|opposes government involvement at all in recognizing marriage]], but supports state-sanctioned "[[civil union]]s" for all.<ref name="auto11"/><ref name="auto31">{{Cite web|url=https://observer.com/2012/04/run-rabbi-run-shmuley-boteach-goes-from-neverland-to-capital-hill/|title=Run, Rabbi, Run! Shmuley Boteach Goes From Neverland to Capitol Hill|work=Observer|author=Hunter Walker|date=April 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Foxnews20012">{{cite web|author=[[Roger Friedman]]|date=May 23, 2001|title=Jacko's Rabbi Gets Meshugah on Court TV|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/jackos-rabbi-gets-meshugah-on-court-tv-plus-pearl-harbor-bombs-away|access-date=28 February 2011|work=Fox News}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name="auto13"/> Open Orthodox Rabbi [[Shmuly Yanklowitz]] declared that the Jewish values of justice, equality, and dignity lead him to support the cause of gay rights and advocate for same-sex civil marriage.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuly-yanklowitz/orthodox-rabbi-gay-marriage_b_4452154.html|author=Shmuly Yanklowitz|work=The Huffington Post|title=5 Reasons Being an Orthodox Rabbi Compelled Me to Support Gay Marriage|date=December 19, 2013}}</ref>

In November 2016, dozens of LGBT activists protested in Jerusalem against comments reportedly made by the city's chief rabbi Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who reportedly told an Israeli newspaper that gay people were an "abomination", and homosexuality a "cult".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/11/20/world/middleeast/ap-ml-israel-lgbt-protest.html|title=Rabbi's Remarks on Homosexuality Spark Protests in Jerusalem|date=20 November 2016|work=AP|via=The New York Times}}</ref>

In 2017, the Senior Rabbi of the Spanish & Portuguese Sephardi Community [[Joseph Dweck]] gave a class describing "the entire revolution of feminism and even homosexuality in our society{{nbsp}}[...] is a fantastic development for humanity". These words were condemned by Rabbi Aaron Bassous as "false and misguided{{nbsp}}[...] corrupt from beginning to end".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/18/jewish-leader-intervenes-in-row-over-rabbis-remarks-on-homosexuality|first=Harriet|last=Sherwood|newspaper= [[The Guardian]]|date=18 June 2017|title=Chief rabbi intervenes in Orthodox rabbis' row over homosexuality}}</ref> This affair caused Dweck to step down from the Sephardic Beth Din but not as a communal leader.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/rabbi-dweck-can-remain-as-sephardi-leader-rabbinic-panel-says-1.441710|first=Simon|last=Rocker|newspaper= [[The Jewish Chronicle]]|date=19 July 2017|title=Rabbi Dweck can remain as Sephardi leader, rabbinic panel says}}</ref>

In 2019, Rabbi [[Daniel Landes]] wrote, "Leviticus 18:22{{nbsp}}[...] has not been erased from the Torah. But that biblical commandment does not give us license to ignore or abuse the significant number of carefully observant Jews who are LGBTQ."<ref>Landes, Daniel.  [https://jewishjournal.com/newsroom/judaism/we-need-gay-orthodox-rabbis/ "We Need Gay Orthodox Rabbis."] ''Jewish Journal''.  28 May 2019.  28 May 2019.</ref>

Film documentaries made about Orthodox homosexuals in recent years{{as of?|date=June 2024}} include ''[[Trembling Before G-d]]'', ''[[Keep Not Silent]]'', and ''[[Say Amen]]''.

==Conservative Judaism==
{{Further|Conservative Judaism and sexual orientation}}
As a matter of both [[Jewish law]] and institutional policy, [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative ("Masorti") Judaism]] has wrestled with homosexuality issues since the 1980s.

Conservative Jewish writer Herschell Matt initially argued that homosexuals may be excused because Judaism does recognise 'constraint' as a valid excuse to disobey the law. However, Matt later shifted to outright support for homosexuality, viewing it as part of the natural order. Conservative Rabbi Robert Kirshchner states that Jews have historically adapted their laws to new circumstances, indicating accommodation for homosexuality.<ref>{{cite book|author=David L. Balch|title=Homosexuality, Science, and the "plain Sense" of Scripture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pCEjNJexFYC&pg=PA293|year=2000|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-4698-3|pages=293–|quote=Herschell Matt, a Conservative Jewish thinker, moved away from the category of 'illness' to speaking of 'sexual deviance, malfunctioning, or abnormality-usually unavoidable and often irredemediable. Matt recignized traditional reasons for condemning homosexuality, but argued that Halakah (traditional law) recognizes the category of 'constraint' (me'ones) excusing one in circumstances beyond one's control. Because there is no possibility of change to a hetereosexual preference, the homosexual should be considered to be acting under 'constraint'. A decade later, Matt went further and rejected his own suggestion that homosexuals should be tolerated because they are acting out of uncontrollable compulsion. Homosexuality is rather part of God's creation; therefore, gay men and lesbians may be ordained to the rabbinate. Matt went further than many other Conservative Jews, but virtually all Jewish writers support the decriminalization of private sexual acts. Another Conservative Rabbi, Robert Kirshchner, pointed out that 'in the interpretation of Jewish tradition, where there is a halachic will, there is a halachic way. In other words, if our understanding of a situation changes, we Jews have always found a way to make the law fit in with our new understanding.'}}</ref>

[[File:JTSA 122 Bway jeh.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Jewish Theological Seminary of America]], the main rabbinical seminary of Conservative Judaism]]
In Conservative Judaism, the [[Committee on Jewish Law and Standards]] (CJLS) of the [[Rabbinical Assembly]] makes the movement's decisions concerning Jewish law. In 1992, the CJLS action reaffirmed its traditional prohibition on homosexual conduct, blessing same-sex unions, and ordaining openly gay/lesbian/bisexual clergy.<ref name=":4" /> However, these prohibitions grew increasingly controversial within the Conservative movement.

In 2006, the CJLS shifted its position and paved the way for significant changes regarding the Conservative movement's policies toward homosexuality. On December 6, 2006, The CJLS adopted three distinct [[Responsum|responsa]] reflecting very different approaches to the subject. One responsum substantially liberalized Conservative Judaism's approach including lifting most (but not all) classical prohibitions on homosexual conduct and permitted the blessing of homosexual unions and the ordination of openly gay/lesbian/bisexual clergy.<ref name=":4" /> Two others completely retained traditional prohibitions. Under the rules of the Conservative movement, the adoption of multiple opinions permits individual Conservative rabbis, congregations, and rabbinical schools to select which opinion to accept, and hence to choose individually whether to maintain a traditional prohibition on homosexual conduct or to permit openly gay/lesbian/bisexual unions and clergy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Backgrounder What the Conservative Rulings on Homosexuality Really Mean |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/backgrounder-what-the-conservative-rulings-on-homosexuality-really-mean |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref>

The liberalizing responsum, adopted as a majority opinion by 13 of 25 votes, was authored by Rabbis [[Elliot N. Dorff]], Daniel Nevins, and Avram Reisner. It lifted most restrictions on homosexual conduct and opened the way to the ordination of openly gay/lesbian/bisexual rabbis and cantors and acceptance of homosexual unions, but stopped short of religiously recognizing same-sex marriage.<ref name=":4" /> The responsum invoked the [[Talmud|Talmudic principle]] of ''[[Kavod HaBriyot|kavod habriyot]]'', which the authors translated as "human dignity", as authority for this approach. The responsum maintained a prohibition on male-male anal sex, which it described as the sole Biblically prohibited homosexual act. This act remains a ''yehareg ve'al ya'avor'' ("[[Self-sacrifice under Jewish Law|die rather than transgress]]" offense) under the decision.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rabbinevins.org/HHH%20Dorff%20Nevins%20Reisner%20Final2.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413220855/http://www.rabbinevins.org/HHH%20Dorff%20Nevins%20Reisner%20Final2.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Elliott N. Dorff, Daniel Nevins, and Avram Reisner. ''Homosexuality, Human Dignity, and Halakha''. Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, Rabbinical Assembly, December 6, 2006|archive-date=April 13, 2008}}</ref>

Two traditionalist responsa were adopted. A responsum by Rabbi [[Joel Roth (rabbi)|Joel Roth]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Joel Roth, Homosexuality Revisited, Rabbinical Assembly, December 6, 2006 |url=http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/docs/Roth_Final.pdf |access-date=2007-01-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070422081604/http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/docs/Roth_Final.pdf |archive-date=April 22, 2007 }}</ref> adopted as a majority opinion by 13 votes, reaffirmed a general complete prohibition on homosexual conduct. A second responsum by Rabbi [[Leonard Levy (Rabbi)|Leonard Levy]], adopted as a minority opinion by 6 votes, delineated ways in which to ensure that gays and lesbians would be accorded human dignity and a respected place in Conservative communities and institutions while maintaining the authority of the traditional prohibitions against same-sex sexual activity.<ref>{{cite web|title=Conservative Halakhah and Homosexuality|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/conservative-halakhah-and-homosexuality/|quote="Rabbi Leonard Levy’s responsum, which accepts reparative therapy as a possibility and supports the same public policy as Rabbi Roth, attained the minimum threshold of 6 votes."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Why the Conservative movement endorsed gays|date=14 December 2006 |url=https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/14149/}}</ref>

The Committee rejected the third paper by [[Gordon Tucker]] which would have lifted all restrictions on homosexual sexual practices.

The consequences of the decision have been mixed. On the one hand, four members of the Committee—Rabbis Joel Roth, Leonard Levy, [[Mayer Rabinowitz]], and [[Joseph Prouser]]—resigned from the CJLS following adoption of the change.<ref name="rothresigns">{{cite news|url=http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=17355&intcategoryid=4 |title=Conflicting Conservative opinions expected to open the way for gays |access-date=2006-12-07 |author=Ben Harris |date=2006-12-06 |agency=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061211044018/http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=17355&intcategoryid=4 |archive-date=11 December 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=17372&intcategoryid=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205030318/http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=17372&intcategoryid=4|url-status=dead|title=Rabbi Joel Roth, "Op-Ed: Law committee in its gay ruling stepped outside halachic framework", JTS News, December 10, 2006|archive-date=February 5, 2012}}</ref> On the other hand, the [[Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies]] of the [[American Jewish University]] in Los Angeles had previously stated that it will immediately begin admitting gay/lesbian/bisexual students as soon as the law committee passes a policy that sanctions such ordination.<ref>{{cite news|author=Rebecca Spence |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/conservative-panel-votes-to-permit-gay-rabbis/ |title=Conservative Panel Votes To Permit Gay Rabbis |newspaper=The Jewish Daily Forward |date=December 8, 2006 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208205536/http://www.forward.com/articles/conservative-panel-votes-to-permit-gay-rabbis/ |archive-date=December 8, 2006 }}</ref> On March 26, 2007, the [[Jewish Theological Seminary of America]] in New York followed suit and began accepting openly gay/lesbian/bisexual candidates for admission for their Rabbinical program.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jtsa.edu/Conservative_Judaism/The_Halakhic_Status_of_Homosexual_Behavior/Eisen_Letter_-_Ordination.xml |title=Chancellor-elect Eisen's Letter to the Community |publisher=The Jewish Theological Seminary |date=March 26, 2007 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204152904/http://www.jtsa.edu/Conservative_Judaism/The_Halakhic_Status_of_Homosexual_Behavior/Eisen_Letter_-_Ordination.xml |archive-date=December 4, 2014 }}</ref>

In June 2012, the American branch of [[Conservative Judaism]] formally approved same-sex marriage ceremonies in a 13–0 vote.<ref name="SSM">{{Cite web|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/religion/20120601_ap_conservativejewsapprovegayweddingguidelines.html?c=r|title=Conservative Jews approve gay wedding guidelines}}</ref> In 2021, two Conservative Rabbis became the first known example of two Rabbis of the same sex marrying each other.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/11/06/conservative-judaism-same-sex-wedding-rabbis/ |title=Conservative Judaism has just celebrated its first same-sex wedding between rabbis |publisher=[[Pink News]] |date=November 6, 2021 |access-date=April 28, 2022}}</ref>

Although the American example was initially an outlier in the global Conservative movement, it is now the case that "all Masorti seminaries, except for the one in Argentina, now accept openly gay students".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.keshetuk.org/uploads/1/3/8/6/13861493/keshetuk_factsheet_denominations.pdf |author=Keshet UK |title=Denominational perspectives on LGBT inclusion |access-date=April 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222195444/https://www.keshetuk.org/uploads/1/3/8/6/13861493/keshetuk_factsheet_denominations.pdf |archive-date=December 22, 2016 }}</ref>  Since 2014 in the United Kingdom the Masorti movement offers a ''Shutafut'' ("partnership") ceremony to same-gender couples wishing to marry in a Conservative religious ceremony. The ''Shutafut'' contains many of the iconic elements of a traditional Jewish wedding service - the ''chupah'', the seven blessings, the wine, the glass breaking, but without the symbolic act of acquisition in a traditional Jewish wedding.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thejc.com/judaism/all/birth-of-a-new-tradition-masorti-ceremonies-for-same-sex-couples-1.63798 |title=Birth of a new tradition: Masorti ceremonies for same-sex couples |publisher=[[The Jewish Chronicle]] |date=September 1, 2016 |access-date=April 28, 2022}}</ref>

In Israel, the head of the Masorti's Vaad Halakha (equivalent to the CJLS), Rabbi [[David Golinkin]], wrote to the CJLS protesting its reconsideration of the traditional ban on homosexual conduct.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscj.org/images/prouser.pdf |author=Rabbi Joseph Prouser |title=The Conservative Movement and Homosexuality: Settled Law in Unsettling Times |access-date=November 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207161228/http://www.uscj.org/images/prouser.pdf |archive-date=February 7, 2012 }}</ref> Despite the contention within the Israeli movement however in the same year, Israel's Schechter Rabbinical Seminary sanctioned the training of openly gay Rabbis.<ref>{{cite news |author=Marcy Oster |date=April 19, 2012 |title=Israel's Masorti movement to ordain gays and lesbians as rabbis |url=https://www.jta.org/2012/04/19/lifestyle/israels-masorti-movement-to-ordain-gays-and-lesbians-as-rabbis |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |access-date=April 28, 2022}}</ref>

Hungary's [[Neolog]] movement - distinct from but seen as a fraternal counterpart and in some ways spiritual ancestor of the modern Masorti movement - has been more divided. Although not embracing and providing for same-gender marriage or full inclusion in Jewish life, Mazsihisz, the main representative umbrella body for Neolog Judaism, has affirmed its opposition to exclusion by homophobia and in 2013 dismissed the director of its youth movement for making comments about excluding gay people from all religious life for their sexual orientation.<ref>{{cite news |author=Cnaan Liphshiz |date=July 6, 2014 |title=Young Hungarian Jews angle for slice of communal pie |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/young-hungarian-jews-angle-for-slice-of-communal-pie/ |publisher=Times of Israel |access-date=April 28, 2022}}</ref> In 2021 the President of Mazsihisz was made to apologise for signing a ''Joint Declaration of the Churches on the Holiness of Marriage'' that held "the sanctification of the woman-man relationship by marriage is the foundation of human dignity". His critics included Mazsihisz's Chief Rabbi and earlier that same year the movement made a statement widely seen as condemning new Hungarian laws limiting the exposure of children to content referencing homosexuality.<ref>{{cite news |author=Cnaan Liphshiz |date=December 24, 2021 |title=Hungarian Jewish group backpedals after coming out against gay marriage |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/hungarian-jewish-group-backpedals-after-coming-out-against-gay-marriage/ |publisher=Times of Israel |access-date=April 28, 2022}}</ref>

Rabbi [[Bradley Artson]], Dean of the Rabbinic School at American Jewish University, claims to have studied every reference he could find to homosexual activity mentioned in ancient Greek and Latin writers. Every citation he found described an encounter between males where one party, the master, physically abused another, the slave. Rabbi Artson could not find a single example where one partner was not subservient to the other. "Homosexual relationships today", Rabbi Artson says, "should not be compared to the ancient world. I know too many homosexual individuals, including close friends and relatives, who are committed to one another in loving long-term monogamous relationships. I know too many same-sex couples that are loving parents raising good descent {{sic}} ethical children. Who's to say their family relationships are less sanctified in the eyes of God than mine is with my wife and our children?"<ref>{{cite news |author=Elliot Fein |date=October 28, 2008 |title=Religious "No!" to Proposition 8 |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/religious_no_to_proposition_8_20081028/ |publisher=Jewish Journal |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-date=October 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015144217/http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/religious_no_to_proposition_8_20081028/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Reform Judaism==
The [[Reform Judaism]] movement, the largest branch of Judaism in North America, has rejected the traditional view of Jewish Law on homosexuality and bisexuality. As such, they do not prohibit the ordination of openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual people as rabbis and cantors. They view Levitical laws as sometimes seen to be referring to prostitution, making it a stand against Jews adopting the idolatrous fertility cults and practices of the neighbouring [[Canaan]]ite nations, rather than a blanket condemnation of same-sex intercourse, homosexuality, or bisexuality. Reform authorities consider that, in light of what is seen as current scientific evidence about the nature of homosexuality and bisexuality as inborn sexual orientations, a new interpretation of the law is required.

In 1972, [[Beth Chayim Chadashim]], the world's first explicitly-gay-and-lesbian-centered synagogue recognized by the Reform Jewish community, was established in West Los Angeles, resulting in a slew of non-Orthodox congregations being established along similar lines. Beth Chayim Chadashim now focuses on the entire LGBT community, rather than just gays and lesbians.

In 1977, the [[Central Conference of American Rabbis]] (CCAR), which is the [[Union for Reform Judaism]]'s principal body, adopted a resolution calling for legislation decriminalizing homosexual acts between consenting adults, and calling for an end to discrimination against gays and lesbians.<ref name="ccarnet2000">{{cite web |url=http://www.ccarnet.org/rabbis-speak/resolutions/2000/same-gender-officiation/ |title=CCAR |publisher=Ccarnet.org |access-date=2015-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150309232303/http://www.ccarnet.org/rabbis-speak/resolutions/2000/same-gender-officiation/ |archive-date=2015-03-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The resolution called on Reform Jewish organizations to develop programs to implement this stand.<ref name="ccarnet2000"/>

Reform rabbi [[Lionel Blue]] was the first British rabbi to publicly declare himself as gay, which he did in 1980.<ref name="lionel">{{cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/2016/12/20/news-opinion/world/rabbi-lionel-blue-the-first-openly-gay-british-rabbi-dies-at-86 |title=Rabbi Lionel Blue, the first openly gay British rabbi, dies at 86 &#124; Jewish Telegraphic Agency |publisher=Jta.org |date=2016-12-20 |access-date=2017-06-22}}</ref>

In the late 1980s, the primary seminary of the Reform movement, [[Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion]], changed its admission requirements to allow openly gay and lesbian people to join the student body.

In 1990, the Union for Reform Judaism announced a national policy declaring lesbian and gay Jews to be full and equal members of the religious community. Also in 1990, the CCAR officially endorsed a report of their own Ad Hoc Committee on Homosexuality and the Rabbinate.<ref name="ccarnet2000"/> This position paper urged that "all rabbis, regardless of sexual orientation, be accorded the opportunity to fulfill the sacred vocation that they have chosen".<ref name="ccarnet2000"/> The committee endorsed the view that "all Jews are religiously equal, regardless of their sexual orientation".<ref name="ccarnet2000"/>

In 1995, Reform Rabbi [[Margaret Wenig]]'s essay "Truly Welcoming Lesbian and Gay Jews" was published in ''The Jewish Condition: Essays on Contemporary Judaism Honoring [Reform] Rabbi [[Alexander Schindler|Alexander M. Schindler]]''; it was the first published argument to the Jewish community on behalf of civil marriage for gay couples.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/judaism/2000/11/reform-rabbi-alexander-m-schindler-dies.aspx|title=Reform Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler Dies|website=www.beliefnet.com}}</ref><ref name="wenig">{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:fFLO9cY0WUUJ:huc.edu/news/docs/prlinks3/Wenig%2520PR.pdf+%22miriam+frank%22+%22margaret+wenig%22+%22mentally+ill%22+first&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi23nbt0sf9HxA42m72kp-VshCZh5JKMb3Hij-nLKXhlNPM6VasnnCORZOT3VL0e3mlKGD8ZONJvC6gk8GgLZy_ZEsA74UoazDW6WKzPULQp5hJfW7Bea6V6AqAubipRho2owD1&sig=AHIEtbR6VRH-CJYWipd-wwBi6ItCM-6UmA |title=Powered by Google Docs |access-date=2012-04-12}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

In 1996, the CCAR passed a resolution approving the same-sex civil marriage. However, this same resolution made a distinction between civil marriages and religious marriages; this resolution thus stated:

:However we may understand homosexuality, whether as an illness, as a genetically based dysfunction or as a sexual preference and lifestyle—we cannot accommodate the relationship of two homosexuals as a "marriage" within the context of Judaism, for none of the elements of qiddushin (sanctification) normally associated with marriage can be invoked for this relationship.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Soc.Culture.Jewish Newsgroups |title=Question 18.3.8: Reform's Position On...Homosexuality |url=http://mljewish.org/S.C.J/faq/18-03-08.html |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-date=January 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124160434/https://mljewish.org/S.C.J/faq/18-03-08.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

:The Central Conference of American Rabbis support the right of gay and lesbian couples to share fully and equally in the rights of civil marriage, and

:That the CCAR oppose governmental efforts to ban gay and lesbian marriage.

:That this is a matter of civil law, and is separate from the question of rabbinic officiation at such marriages.

In 1998, an ad hoc CCAR committee on Human Sexuality issued its majority report (11 to 1, 1 abstention) which stated that the holiness within a Jewish marriage "may be present in committed same-gender relationships between two Jews and that these relationships can serve as the foundation of stable Jewish families, thus adding strength to the Jewish community". The report called for the CCAR to support rabbis in officiating at same-sex marriages. Also in 1998, the Responsa Committee of the CCAR issued a lengthy ''teshuvah'' (rabbinical opinion)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ccarnet.org/cgi-bin/respdisp.pl?file=8&year=5756|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041217072309/http://www.ccarnet.org/cgi-bin/respdisp.pl?file=8&year=5756|url-status=dead|title=On Homosexual Marriage|archive-date=December 17, 2004}}</ref> that offered detailed argumentation in support of both sides of the question whether a rabbi may officiate at a commitment ceremony for a same-sex couple.

In March 2000, the CCAR issued a new resolution stating that "We do hereby resolve that the relationship of a Jewish, same-gender couple is worthy of affirmation through appropriate Jewish ritual and further resolve, that we recognize the diversity of opinions within our ranks on this issue. We support the decision of those who choose to officiate at rituals of union for same-sex couples, and we support the decision of those who do not."

Also in 2000, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion established the [[Institute for Judaism, Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity]] to "educate HUC-JIR students on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues to help them challenge and eliminate homophobia and heterosexism; and to learn tools to be able to transform the communities they encounter into ones that are inclusive and welcoming of LGBT Jews".<ref name=ijso>{{Cite web|url=http://ijso.huc.edu/|title=IJSO|website=ijso.huc.edu}}</ref> It is the first and only institute of its kind in the Jewish world.<ref name=ijso/>

In 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism retroactively applied its pro-rights policy on gays and lesbians to the bisexual and transgender communities, issuing a resolution titled, "Support for the Inclusion and Acceptance of the Transgender and Bisexual Communities".<ref>{{cite web|title=Support for the Inclusion and Acceptance of the Transgender and Bisexual Communities |url=http://urj.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=13462 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720193853/http://urj.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=13462 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-20 }}</ref>

Also in 2003, [[Women of Reform Judaism]] issued a statement describing their support for human and civil rights and the struggles of the bisexual and transgender communities, and saying, "Women of Reform Judaism accordingly: Calls for civil rights protections from all forms of discrimination against bisexual and transgender individuals; Urges that such legislation allows transgender individuals to be seen under the law as the gender by which they identify; and
Calls upon sisterhoods to hold informative programs about the transgender and bisexual communities."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrj.org/Advocacy/ResolutionsStatements/Resolutions2003/2003TransgenderandBisexualRights.aspx |access-date=April 10, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516091332/http://www.wrj.org/Advocacy/ResolutionsStatements/Resolutions2003/2003TransgenderandBisexualRights.aspx |title=Transgender and Bisexual Rights - 2003|archive-date=May 16, 2013 }}</ref>

In 2009, ''Siddur Sha'ar Zahav'', a prayer book written to address the lives and needs of LGBTQ as well as [[Heterosexuality|heterosexual]] and [[cisgender]] Jews, was published.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Our Siddur|url=https://shaarzahav.org/our-siddur/|access-date=2020-11-25|website=Sha'ar Zahav}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Copel|first=Rabbi Mychal|date=2020-06-22|title=Lots of Jewish resources to help you celebrate Pride's 50th anniversary|url=https://www.jweekly.com/2020/06/22/dont-let-prides-50th-anniversary-pass-by-lots-of-jewish-resources-are-available/|access-date=2020-11-25|website=J.|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2014, the CCAR joined a lawsuit challenging North Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage, which is America's first faith-based challenge to same-sex marriage bans.<ref>{{cite news |author=Mark Price |date=June 3, 2014 |title=Rabbis group joins N.C. same-sex marriage suit |newspaper=Charlotte Observer |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/06/03/4952335/rabbis-group-joins-nc-same-sex.html |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714154951/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/06/03/4952335/rabbis-group-joins-nc-same-sex.html |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Michael O'Loughlin |date=June 6, 2014 |title=Rabbis Join Marriage Equality Fight |url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2014/06/06/rabbis-join-marriage-equality-fight |publisher=Advocate |access-date=November 26, 2014}}f</ref>

In 2015, Rabbi [[Denise Eger]] became the first openly gay president of the CCAR.<ref name="Cutler">Tess Cutler, [http://www.jewishjournal.com/religion/article/rabbi_denise_eger_seeks_to_open_doors_wider_to_all_jews "Rabbi Denise Eger seeks to open doors wider to all Jews"], ''[[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]]'', March 4, 2015.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/2015/03/16/news-opinion/united-states/reform-rabbis-install-first-openly-gay-president-denise-eger |title=Reform rabbis install first openly gay president, Denise Eger &#124; Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=16 March 2015 |publisher=Jta.org |access-date=2015-03-16}}</ref>

Also in 2015, the [[High Holy Days]] Reform Jewish prayer book [[Mishkan HaNefesh]] was released; it is intended as a companion to [[Mishkan T'filah]].<ref name="jweekly1">{{cite news|url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/74278/gates-of-repentance-replacement-advances-reform-trends/ |title='Gates of Repentance' replacement advances Reform trends &#124; j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California |newspaper=J |publisher=Jweekly.com |date=2015-03-26 |access-date=2015-04-14}}</ref> Mishkan HaNefesh can be translated as "sanctuary of the soul".<ref name="jweekly1"/> It replaces a line from the Reform movement's earlier prayerbook, "Gates of Repentance", that mentioned the joy of a bride and groom specifically, with the line "rejoicing with couples under the chuppah [wedding canopy]", and adds a third, non-gendered option to the way worshippers are called to the Torah, offering "mibeit", Hebrew for "from the house of", in addition to the traditional "son of" or "daughter of".<ref name="jweekly1"/> The Mishkan HaNefesh includes several sets of translations for the traditional prayers. Psalm 23 includes the familiar "traditional" translation, an adaptation that is considered "gender-sensitive" but remains faithful to the traditional version, a feminist adaption from Phyllis Appell Bass, and the fourth was published in 1978 by a contemporary rabbi.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reiner|first=Fred N.|date=2016-01-10|title=Adonai is My Shepherd: Theology, Values, and Sexism in Bible Translation|journal=Open Theology|volume=2|issue=1|doi=10.1515/opth-2016-0074|issn=2300-6579|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Reconstructionist Judaism==
The [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist movement]] sees homosexuality and bisexuality as normal expressions of sexuality and welcomes gays, bisexuals, and lesbians into Reconstructionist communities to participate fully in every aspect of community life. Since 1985, the [[Reconstructionist Rabbinical College]] has admitted openly gay, bisexual, and lesbian candidates to their rabbinical and cantorial programs. In 1993, a movement Commission issued: ''Homosexuality and Judaism: The Reconstructionist Position''.<ref>[http://www.jrf.org/rt/transformation.html "Becoming a "Kehillah Mekabelet": The Struggles of Transformation"] by Roberta Israeloff {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113210730/http://www.jrf.org/rt/transformation.html |date=November 13, 2007 }}</ref> The [[Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association]] (RRA) encourages its members to officiate at same-sex marriages/commitment ceremonies, though the RRA does not require its members to officiate at them. In 2007, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association elected as president Rabbi [[Toba Spitzer]], the first openly LGBT person chosen to head a rabbinical association in the United States. In 2011 [[Sandra Lawson]] became the first openly homosexual African-American and first African-American admitted to the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College;<ref name="lawson">{{cite web|url=https://whyy.org/articles/rabbi-is-latest-of-many-titles-for-philly-woman/|title=Rabbi is latest of many titles for Philly woman|website=WHYY|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-12}}</ref><ref name="apbspeakers1">{{cite web|url=https://www.apbspeakers.com/speaker/sandra-lawson/ |title=Book Sandra Lawson for Speaking, Events and Appearances |publisher=APB Speakers |access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref> she was ordained in June 2018, which made her the first openly homosexual, female, black rabbi in the world.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.elon.edu/e-net/Article/163441|title=Rabbi Sandra Lawson named associate chaplain for Jewish life, Jewish educator at Hillel|website=E-Net! Elon University News & Information|date=20 June 2018|language=en|access-date=2019-05-12|archive-date=2020-02-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217184705/https://www.elon.edu/u/news/2018/06/20/rabbi-sandra-lawson-named-associate-chaplain-for-jewish-life-jewish-educator-at-hillel/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://projects.elonnewsnetwork.com/elonrabbi/|title=Elon Rabbi redefines religion|website=projects.elonnewsnetwork.com|access-date=2019-05-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elon.edu/e-net/Article/163441|title=Rabbi Sandra Lawson named associate chaplain for Jewish life, Jewish educator at Hillel|website=E-Net! Elon University News & Information|date=20 June 2018 |language=en|access-date=2018-09-13}}</ref> In 2013, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association elected as president Rabbi [[Jason Klein]], the first openly gay man chosen to head a national rabbinical association of one of the major Jewish denominations in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gay man chosen to lead U.S. Reconstructionist rabbis |date=March 12, 2013 |agency=The Forward |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/gay-man-chosen-to-lead-u-s-reconstructionist-rabbis-1.508883 |access-date=March 12, 2013}}</ref> Also in 2013, Rabbi [[Deborah Waxman]] was elected as the president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.<ref name="thejewishweek.com">{{cite news |date=October 10, 2013 |title=Reconstructionists Pick First Woman, Lesbian As Denominational Leader |newspaper=[[The Jewish Week]] |agency=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national-news/reconstructionists-pick-first-woman-lesbian-denominational-leader |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-date=May 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519214708/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national-news/reconstructionists-pick-first-woman-lesbian-denominational-leader |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Anne Cohen |date=October 18, 2013 |title=Trailblazing Reconstructionist Deborah Waxman Relishes Challenges of Judaism |newspaper=[[The Jewish Daily Forward]] |url=http://forward.com/articles/185252/trailblazing-reconstructionist-deborah-waxman-reli/?p=all |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> As the President, she is believed to be the first woman and first lesbian to lead a Jewish congregational union, and the first female rabbi and first lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary; the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College is both a congregational union and a seminary.<ref name="thejewishweek.com"/><ref>{{cite press release |publisher=Reconstructionst Rabbinical College |title=RRC Announces New President Elect |date=October 9, 2013 |url=http://www.rrc.edu/sites/default/files/ORPHAN_PDFs/RRC_WaxmanPresidentElect-ForPress3.pdf?hero=1615 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924092703/http://www.rrc.edu/sites/default/files/ORPHAN_PDFs/RRC_WaxmanPresidentElect-ForPress3.pdf?hero=1615 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Jewish Renewal==
[[Jewish Renewal]] is a recent [[Jewish denominations|movement]] in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]], [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]], [[music]]al and [[Meditation|meditative]] practices; it describes itself as "a worldwide, transdenominational movement grounded in Judaism's prophetic and mystical traditions".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aleph.org/renewal.htm |title=About Jewish Renewal |publisher=Aleph: Alliance for Jewish Renewal |access-date=November 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007220011/https://www.aleph.org/renewal.htm |archive-date=October 7, 2014 }}</ref> The Jewish Renewal movement ordains people of all sexual orientations as rabbis and cantors. In 2005, Eli Cohen became the first openly gay rabbi ordained by the Jewish Renewal Movement, followed by [[Chaya Gusfield]] and [[Rabbi Lori Klein]] in 2006, who became the two first openly lesbian rabbis ordained by the Jewish Renewal movement. In 2007, [[Jalda Rebling]], born in Amsterdam and now living in Germany, became the first openly lesbian cantor ordained by the Jewish Renewal movement.<ref name="jta">{{cite web|last=Axelrod|first=Toby|url=http://www.jta.org/news/article/1999/11/30/14879/Newfemalecantorin|title=New Renewal cantor looks ahead|publisher=JTA|date=1999-11-30|access-date=2012-04-14|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415065937/http://www.jta.org/news/article/1999/11/30/14879/Newfemalecantorin|archive-date=2013-04-15}}</ref> In 2011, the bisexual rights activist [[Debra Kolodny]] was ordained as a rabbi by the Jewish Renewal movement and hired as the rabbi for congregation P'nai Or of Portland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishreview.org/special/Pnai-Or-hires-new-rabbi |title=P'nai or hires new rabbi &#124; the Jewish Review |access-date=2013-10-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415035448/http://www.jewishreview.org/special/Pnai-Or-hires-new-rabbi |archive-date=2013-04-15 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Profile: Debra Kolodny |publisher=The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Religious Archives Network |url=http://www.lgbtran.org/Profile.aspx?ID=48 |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> The Statement of Principles of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal (and OHALAH and the Rabbinic Pastors Association) states in part, "We welcome and recognize the sanctity of every individual regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We recognize respectful and mutual expressions of adult human sexuality as potentially sacred expressions of love, and therefore, we strive to welcome a variety of constellations of intimate relationships and family forms including gay, lesbian, and heterosexual relationships as well as people choosing to be single."<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement of Principles |publisher=OHALAH |url=http://ohalah.org/about-us/principles/ |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403152959/http://ohalah.org/about-us/principles/ |archive-date=April 3, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Humanistic Judaism==
[[Humanistic Judaism]] is a movement in Judaism that offers a non-theistic alternative in contemporary Jewish life. In 2004, the [[Society for Humanistic Judaism]] issued a resolution supporting "the legal recognition of marriage and divorce between adults of the same sex", and affirming "the value of marriage between any two committed adults with the sense of obligations, responsibilities, and consequences thereof".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shj.org/MarriageEquality.htm |access-date=November 19, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010054121/http://www.shj.org/MarriageEquality.htm |title=On Homosexual Marriage|archive-date=October 10, 2013 }}</ref> In 2010 they pledged to speak out against homophobic bullying.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shj.org/Homophobic%20Bullying.html |access-date=July 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725123301/http://www.shj.org/Homophobic%20Bullying.html |title=Society for Humanistic Judaism Pledges to Speak Out Against Homophobic Bullying|archive-date=July 25, 2013 }}</ref> The [[Association of Humanistic Rabbis]] has also issued a pro-LGBT statement titled "In Support of Diverse Sexualities and Gender Identities".<ref name="humanisticrabbis.org">{{cite web |title=Sexualities & Identities |publisher=Association of Humanistic Rabbis |url=http://www.humanisticrabbis.org/sexualities-identities/ |access-date=November 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030021945/http://www.humanisticrabbis.org/sexualities-identities/ |archive-date=October 30, 2014 }}</ref> It was adopted in 2003 and issued in 2004.<ref name="humanisticrabbis.org"/>

==LGBT-affirmative activities==
[[File:Pride Minyan.jpg|thumb|A halachic egalitarian Pride [[minyan]] in [[Tel Aviv]] on the second Shabbat of [[Hanukkah]].]]
[[File:SF Pride 2014 - Stierch 6.jpg|thumbnail|Marchers at [[San Francisco Pride]] 2014]]
[[File:2015MarchaGayDF039.JPG|thumbnail|upright|A Pride participant wears a rainbow [[kippah]] at the 2015 ''Marcha Gay'' of [[Mexico City]]]]Jewish LGBT rights advocates and sympathetic clergy have created various institutions within Jewish life to accommodate gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender parishioners. [[Beth Chayim Chadashim]], established in 1972 in West Los Angeles, was the world's first explicitly-gay-and-lesbian-centered synagogue recognized by the Reform Jewish community, resulting in a slew of non-Orthodox congregations being established along similar lines, including [[Congregation Beit Simchat Torah]] in New York City, [[Bet Mishpachah]] in Washington, D.C., and [[Congregation Or Chadash]] in Chicago. Beth Chayim Chadashim now focuses on the entire LGBT community, rather than just gays and lesbians.

LGBT-inclusive services and ceremonies specific to Jewish religious culture have also been created, ranging from LGBT-affirmative [[haggadah|haggadot]] for [[Passover]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jqinternational.org/haggadah.php |title=GLBT Passover Haggadah |publisher=JQ International |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112112252/http://www.jqinternational.org/haggadah.php |archive-date=November 12, 2012 }}</ref> to a "[[Stonewall riots|Stonewall]] Shabbat [[Passover Seder|Seder]]".<ref>{{cite web |author=Mark Horn |url=http://stonewallseder.com/ |title=The Stonewall Seder |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=April 17, 2008 |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/item/an_old_story_finds_new_life_in_lgbt_haggadah_20080418|title=An old story finds new life in LGBT haggadah|author=Nick Street|publisher=Jewish Journal |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref>

In October 2012 Rainbow Jews, an oral history project showcasing the lives of Jewish bisexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender people in the United Kingdom from the 1950s until the present, was launched.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Rainbow Jews |title=About us |url=http://www.rainbowjews.com/about-us/}}</ref> It is the United Kingdom's first archive of Jewish bisexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender history.<ref>{{cite news |author=Hephzibah Anderson |date= February 12, 2014 |title=Trove of Jewish LGBT history goes on display in U.K. |newspaper=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/.premium-1.573723 |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref>

The [[ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives]] has, among other things, the Twice Blessed Collection, circa 1966-2000; this collection "consists of materials documenting the Jewish lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender experience, circa 1966-2000, collected by the Jewish Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Archives, founded and operated by Johnny Abush".<ref>{{cite web |title=Finding aid of the Twice Blessed Collection, circa 1966-2000 Coll2010.003 |publisher=Online Archives of California |url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt6z09s281/ |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref>

Recent research by the sociocultural psychologist, Chana Etengoff, has highlighted the therapeutic benefits of LGBTQ petitions to religious leaders, including meaning-making, social action, agency and empowerment.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Etengoff|first=Chana|date=2016-04-04|title=Petitioning for Social Change: Letters to Religious Leaders From Gay Men and Their Family Allies|journal=Journal of Homosexuality|volume=64|issue=2|pages=166–194|doi=10.1080/00918369.2016.1174022|issn=0091-8369|pmid=27046269|s2cid=40419307}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Judaism|LGBTQ|Israel}}
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}{{div col end}}
* [[Bat Kol (organization)|Bat Kol Religious lesbian community in Israel]]
* [[Eshel (organization)|Eshel]]
* [[Havruta (organization)|Havruta Religious gay community in Israel]]
* [[Judaism and sexuality]]
* [[Keshet Rabbis]]
* [[LGBT-affirming denominations in Judaism]]
* [[LGBT clergy in Judaism]]
* [[LGBT matters and religion]]
* [[LGBT rights in Israel]]
* [[List of LGBT Jews]]
* [[Same-sex marriage and Judaism]]
* [[Timeline of LGBT Jewish history]]
* [[Transgender people and religion]]
* [[Abomination (Judaism)]]

== Notes ==
<references group="note" />
==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===General sources===
{{refbegin|2}}
* [[Rebecca Alpert|Alpert, Rebecca]], ''Like Bread on a Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition'', Columbia University Press, New York, 1998.
* [[Rebecca Alpert|Alpert, Rebecca]], [[Sue Levi Elwell|Elwell, Sue Levi]], and [[Shirley Idelson|Idelson, Shirley]] (editors), ''Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation'', Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, 2001.
* {{cite book |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=The five books of Moses: a translation with commentary |date=2004}}
* Marc Angel, Hillel Goldberg, and Pinchas Stolper, "Homosexuality and the Orthodox Jewish Community" ''Jewish Action'' 53:2 p.&nbsp;54 (1992).
*{{cite book |title=1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary |first=Joyce G. |last=Baldwin |author-link=Joyce Baldwin |publisher=Inter-Varsity Press |date=1988 |isbn=9780830814268 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OtXAAAAYAAJ }}
* Balka, Christie and Rose, Andy, ''Twice Blessed: on Being Lesbian or Gay and Jewish'' Boston: Beacon Press, 1989.
* [[J. David Bleich]]. "Homosexuality" in ''Judaism and Healing'' KTAV, 1981
* {{cite journal |last=Boyarin |first=Daniel |title=Are there any Jews in 'The History of Sexuality'? |journal=[[Journal of the History of Sexuality]] |volume=5 |number=3 |date=1995}}
* Boyarin, Itzkovitz, Pellegrini, eds. ''Queer theory and the Jewish question'', Columbia Univ Press, 2003
* {{cite book |last=Brodsky |first=David |chapter=Sex in the Talmud: How to Understand Leviticus 18 and 20 |date=28 October 2009 |title=Torah Queeries |pages=157–169 |editor1-last=Drinkwater |editor1-first=Gregg |editor2-last=Lesser |editor2-first=Joshua |editor3-last=Shneer |editor3-first=David |publisher=[[New York University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8147-2012-7 |doi=10.18574/nyu/9780814720127.003.0030 |chapter-url=http://nyu.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.18574/nyu/9780814720127.001.0001/upso-9780814720127-chapter-30 |access-date=26 January 2021 }}
* {{cite book |last=Brooten |first=Bernadette |title=Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism |date=1996}}
* [[Michael Broyde]], "Jews, Public Policy and Civil Rights: A Religious Jewish Perspective" at [http://www.jlaw.com/Articles/jewspublic.html jlaw.com]
* Cohen, Uri C. "[http://www.atid.org/resources/ATIDbiblio1.asp Bibliography of Contemporary Orthodox Jewish Responses to Homosexuality]" ATID, Jerusalem. [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED481598 (PDF also available.)]
* {{cite journal |last=Cohen |first=Martin |title=The Biblical Prohibition of Homosexual Intercourse |journal=[[Journal of Homosexuality]] |volume=19 |number=4 |date=1990 |pages=3–20 |doi=10.1300/J082v19n04_02 |pmid=2230109}}
* {{cite journal |last=Daube |first=David |title=The Old Testament Prohibitions of Homosexuality |journal=Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte: Romantische Abteilung |volume=103 |date=1986}}
* Dworkin, Sara H. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150608113221/http://elearning.huc.edu/jhvrc/upload/Jewish%2C%20Bi%2C%20Feminist%20-%20Oy%20Vey%21.pdf Jewish, Bisexual, Feminist in a Christian Heterosexual World: Oy Vey!]
* [[Moshe Feinstein]]. ''Igrot Moshe'' OH 4:115, 1 Adar I, 5736
*{{cite journal |last=Gordon |first=Cyrus H. |author-link=Cyrus H. Gordon |title=Homer And Bible: The Origin and Character of East Mediterranean Literature |journal=Hebrew Union College Annual |volume=26 |date=1955 |pages=43–108 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23506150 |jstor=23506150 }}
* Gorlin, Rebecca. "The Voice of a Wandering Jewish Bisexual", in ''[[Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out]]'', [[Alyson Publications]], 1991, edited by [[Loraine Hutchins]] and [[Lani Kaʻahumanu]]
* Gorlin, Rebecca. "The Voice of a Wandering Jewish Bisexual: An Update" in ''Kulanu = (all of us) : a resource book for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (glbt) inclusion'', URJ Press, 2007, edited by Richard F. Address, Joel L. Kushner, and Geoffrey Mitelman
* [[Steven Greenberg (rabbi)|Greenberg, Steven]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20071103211449/http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/2576.htm Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition]. University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-299-19090-0}}
*{{cite book |title=Jonathan Loved David: Homosexuality in Biblical Times |first=Tom |last=Horner |publisher=John Knox Press |location=Westminster |date=1978 |isbn=9780664241858 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oocu8JqOz_MC }}
* _______. (Under pseudonym Yaakov Levado). [https://web.archive.org/web/20101213010144/http://fogarty.org/tim/gay_issues/orthodox_gay_rabbi.html Gayness and God], [[Tikkun magazine]], 1993.
* Kahn, Yoel H. "Judaism and Homosexuality: The Traditionalist/Progressive Debate" in ''Homosexuality and Religion'', Richard Hasbany, ed. Haworth Press, 1989
* [[Debra Kolodny|Kolodny, Debra]] and Rosenthol, Gilly, "Hear, I Pray You, This Dream Which I Have Dreamed" and "I Can Love All The Faces of G-d" in ''Blessed Bi Spirit: Bisexual People of Faith'', Continuum, 2000, edited by [[Debra Kolodny|Kolodny, Debra]]
* {{cite book |last=Milgrom |first=Jacob |title=Leviticus 17–22 |date=2000}}
* {{cite journal | author = Moss Jacob A., Ulmer Rivka | year = 2008 | title = Two men under one cloak—the Sages permit it: Homosexual Marriage in Judaism | journal = Journal of Homosexuality | volume = 55 | issue = 1| pages = 71–105 | doi = 10.1080/00918360802129337 | pmid = 18928046 | s2cid = 39050949 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Olyan |first1=Saul M. |title="And with a Male You Shall Not Lie the Lying down of a Woman": On the Meaning and Significance of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 |journal=[[Journal of the History of Sexuality]] |date=1994 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=179–206 |jstor=3704197 |pmid=11639358 |issn=1043-4070}}
* {{cite book |last=Thurston |first=Thomas |chapter=Leviticus 18:22 and the Prohibition of Homosexual Acts |title=Homophobia and the Judeo-Christian Tradition |editor1-first=Michael L. |editor1-last=Stemmeler |editor2-first=J. Michael |editor2-last=Clark |date=1990}}
* Jewish Reconstruction Federation & RRA, ''Homosexuality and Judaism: The Reconstructionist Position'', The Reconstructionist Press, 1993
* Unterman, Alan. "Judaism and Homosexuality: Some Orthodox Perspectives" in ''Jewish Explorations of Sexuality'', [[Jonathan Magonet]], ed.
* {{cite journal |last=Walsh |first=Jerome |title=Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13: Who Is Doing What To Whom? |journal=[[Journal of Biblical Literature]] |volume=120 |number=2 |date=2001 |pages=201–209 |doi=10.2307/3268292 |jstor=3268292 |url=http://www.sbl-site.org/Publications/JBL/JBL1202.pdf |access-date=2023-01-01 |archive-date=2007-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104151350/http://www.sbl-site.org/Publications/JBL/JBL1202.pdf |url-status=dead }}Also available 
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{commons category|Judaism and LGBT}}
{{refbegin}}
* "The Oxford Handbook of Theology, Sexuality, and Gender" (Judaism, Chapter 25) by Ronit Irshai (2015).
* "Being Gay and Jewish: Negotiating Intersecting Identities" by Randal Schnoor (2006).
* "Israel Actually Ranks Low in Tolerance of LGBT People, Survey Says" by Ilan Lior (2015). 
* "'Let Us Bless the Twilight': Intersectionality of Traditional Jewish Ritual and Queer Pride in a Reform Congregation in Israel" by Elazar Ben-Lulu (2019). 
* ''Found Tribe: Jewish Coming Out Stories'', edited by Lawrence Schimel (May 1, 2004)
* ''A Gay Synagogue in New York'' by Moshe Shokeid (Nov 1, 2002)
* ''Judaism and Homosexuality: An Authentic Orthodox View'' by Rabbi Chaim Rapoport (Apr 1, 2004)
* "Hear, I Pray You, This Dream Which I Have Dreamed" by [[Debra Kolodny]] and "I Can Love All The Faces of G-d" by Gilly Rosenthol, both in ''Blessed Bi Spirit: Bisexual People of Faith'', edited by [[Debra Kolodny]] (2000) 
* [http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/lesbianism "Lesbianism"], by [[Rebecca Alpert]], part of ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''
* ''Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation'' by [[Rebecca Alpert]], Sue Levi Elwell and Shirley Idelson (Aug 15, 2001)
* ''Like Bread on the Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition'' by [[Rebecca Alpert]] (Nov 15, 1998)
* "Judaism, Post-Biblical" by Warren Johansson, in ''[http://www.sexarchive.info/BIB/EOH/index.htm Encyclopedia of Homosexuality]'' (1990)
* "Judaism, Sephardic" by Daniel Eisenberg, in ''[http://www.sexarchive.info/BIB/EOH/index.htm Encyclopedia of Homosexuality]'' (1990)
* "Judeo-Christian Tradition" by Warren Johansson, in ''[http://www.sexarchive.info/BIB/EOH/index.htm Encyclopedia of Homosexuality]'' (1990)
* ''Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology'' edited by [[Evelyn Torton Beck]] (Dec 1989)
* ''Twice Blessed: On Being Lesbian or Gay and Jewish'', edited by Christie Balka and Andy Rose (Apr 2, 1991)
* "The Voice of a Wandering Jewish Bisexual" by Rebecca Gorlin, in ''[[Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out]]'', [[Alyson Publications]], 1991, edited by [[Loraine Hutchins]] and [[Lani Kaʻahumanu]]
* "The Voice of a Wandering Jewish Bisexual: An Update" by Rebecca Gorlin, in ''Kulanu = (all of us) : a resource book for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (glbt) inclusion'', URJ Press, 2007, edited by Richard F. Address, Joel L. Kushner, and Geoffrey Mitelman
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121011181008/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/judaism.html "Judaism"] at [[glbtq.com]]
*{{cite book |title=Queer Jewish Lives Between Central Europe and Mandatory Palestine |date=2021 |publisher=transcript Verlag |isbn=978-3-8394-5332-2 |language=en}}
'''Research References:'''
* Yaron Ben Naeh: [https://brill.com/fileasset/downloads_products/35120_EJIW_Preview.pdf Homosexuality in Jewish medieval society, comparison with the Islam], at "Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World", 13 sqq
* {{Cite journal |last1=Coyle |first1=Adrian |last2=Rafalin |first2=Deborah |title=Jewish gay men's accounts of negotiating cultural, religious, and sexual identity: A qualitative study |journal=[[Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality]] |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=21–48 |doi=10.1300/J056v12n04_02 |date=2001 |s2cid=7552857 |url=https://openresearch.surrey.ac.uk/view/delivery/44SUR_INST/12138919130002346/13140492600002346}} [http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/1704/1/fulltext.pdf Pdf.]
* {{Cite journal |last1=Etengoff |first1=Chana |last2=Daiute |first2=Colette |title=Family members' uses of religion in post–coming-out conflicts with their gay relative |journal=[[Psychology of Religion and Spirituality]] |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=33–43 |doi=10.1037/a0035198 |date=February 2014}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Etengoff |first1=Chana |last2=Daiute |first2=Colette |title=Online coming-out communications between gay men and their religious family allies: a family of choice and origin perspective |journal=Journal of GLBT Family Studies |issue=3 |pages=278–304 |doi=10.1080/1550428X.2014.964442 |date=November 2014 |volume=11 |s2cid=143709709}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Etengoff |first1=Chana |last2=Daiute |first2=Colette |title=Clinicians' perspective of the relational processes for family and individual development during the mediation of religious and sexual identity disclosure |journal=[[Journal of Homosexuality]] |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=394–426 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2014.977115 |pmid=25364980 |date=2015 |s2cid=10971273}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Glassgold |first1=Judith M. |title=Bridging the divide integrating lesbian identity and Orthodox Judaism |journal=[[Women & Therapy]] |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=59–73 |doi=10.1300/02703140802145227 |date=2008 |s2cid=141855451}}
* Halbertal, T. H., & Koren, I. (2006). Between "being" and "doing": Conflict and coherence in the identity formation of gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews. In D. P. McAdams, R. Josselson, and A. Lieblich (Eds.), ''Identity and story: Creating self in narrative'' (p.&nbsp;37–61). Washington, D. C.: [http://psycnet.apa.org/books/11414/002 American Psychological Association Press].
* {{Cite journal |last1=Mark |first1=Naomi |title=Identities in conflict: forging an Orthodox gay identity |journal=[[Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health]] |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=179–194 |doi=10.1080/19359700802111189 |date=2008 |s2cid=216137589}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Schnoor |first1=Randal F. |title=Being gay and Jewish: Negotiating intersecting identities |journal=Sociology of Religion |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=43–60 |doi=10.1093/socrel/67.1.43 |date=2006}}
{{refend}}
 
{{LGBTQ topics and Judaism}}
{{Jews and Judaism}}
{{Religion and LGBT people}}

[[Category:LGBTQ and Judaism| ]]
[[Category:Jewish marital law|Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Judaism and society|Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Judaism and sexuality|Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Negative Mitzvoth]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Schisms in Judaism]]