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For millennia, two biblical verses have been understood to condemn sex between men as an abominable act punishable by death. Orthodox Jews, have rejected homosexuality, condemned practicing homosexuals as wanton sinners and taught that the tradition demands absolute celibacy from homosexuals. In 1999, Rabbi Steven Greenberg challenged his community to rethink its assumptions when he became the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi.

Wrestling with God and Men is the product of Rabbi Greenberg's ten-year struggle to reconcile his two identities. In this compelling and groundbreaking work, Greenberg marks a path that is both responsible to human realities and deeply committed to God and Torah. Employing traditional rabbinic resources, Greenberg presents readers with surprising biblical interpretations of the creation story, the love of David and Jonathan, the destruction of Sodom, and the condemnatory verses of Leviticus. Drawing on a wide array of religious texts, Greenberg introduces readers to occasions of same-sex love in Talmudic narratives, medieval Jewish poetry and prose, and traditional Jewish case law literature. Ultimately, Greenberg argues that the historical record is more diverse and the law is more open to reconsideration than has ever been admitted and that the well being, if not the very lives of gay people are at stake. Orthodox communities must open up dialogue and discussion alongside of serious learning - precisely the foundation upon which Jewish law rests – in order to truly deal with the issue of same-sex love.

This book will interest not only Orthodox Jews but all religious people struggling to resolve their religious beliefs with a desire to make their communities more open and accepting to gay and lesbian members.