Rabbi Arthur Waskow 2/12/2004

Dear friends,

As the issue of same-sex marriage heats up, you may find you can bring more light into the discussion by drawing on old and new Jewish approaches to the theology and practice of sexual ethics.

In Spring 2000, New Menorah, the quarterly I edit for ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, published a special issue called "Same-Sex Jewish Marriage in Our Generation." It included major articles by rabbis from a wide spectrrum of Jewish life, plus articles by marriage counselors and gay/lesbian activists on how to prepare fully for marriages not recognized by the state. The issue focused on how to shape same-sex weddings and marriages with practical effectiveness and spiritual depth.

This material, and a great deal else about gay marriage and more generally the theology and practice of sexuality in Judaism, can be found in two articles on this Website, the "Sexuality" subsection under "Community" and the "Covenanting: Marriage and Commitment" subsection under "Life-spiral Turnings."

and even more material about the past, present, and future of Jewish sexual ethics can be found in the third section of my book DOWN-TO-EARTH JUDAISM: FOOD, MONEY, SEX, & THE REST OF LIFE (Morrow, 1995) and in the section on weddings in the book Rabbi Phyllis Berman & I wrote, entitled A TIME FOR EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN: THE JEWISH LIFE-SPIRAL AS A SPIRITUAL PATH (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2002). You can obtain both of them from your own Jewish or general bookstor or by cliciking on "Books" on this Website.

Please pass this information on to others concerned with the question.

Shalom, Arthur