The last few years have witnessed the publication of a number of Jewish queer texts that chose to engage traditional forms of Jewish ritual and literature. These include: Siddur Sha’ar Zahav: The All-Inclusive Siddur, the siddur of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco; B’chol l’vav’kha, the siddur of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York; the Torah commentary Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible; and Andrew Ramer’s Queering the Text: Biblical, Medieval and Modern Jewish Stories.
These publications mark an important contribution to American Jewish life and culture, now engaged in a fascinating dialogue with the queer community. The proposed symposium seeks to acknowledge and examine this contribution by engaging the editors and authors of these works, and by facilitating a conversation about queer Judaism, its creative engagement with collective Jewish textual forms, and what happens to both in the process.
All are welcome.