What does the Torah say about gay people? That’s a trick question. There is no such thing as gay people in the Torah. There are, however, two somewhat confusing lines in Leviticus that comment upon man-on-man “lying.” This means some sort of sex. And there are sources all over the place that argue why these two verses are clear or not clear or prohibit gayness or don’t. But there is one argument I’m excited to share that I think will make a new kind of sense for our 21st century, historical critical sensibilities.
Deep breath – here are the texts:
Leviticus 18:22, accessed from Sefaria.org – find other translations at biblegateway.com
Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence
וְאֶ֨ת־זָכָ֔ר לֹ֥א תִשְׁכַּ֖ב מִשְׁכְּבֵ֣י אִשָּׁ֑ה תּוֹעֵבָ֖ה הִֽוא׃
Leviticus 20:13, accessed from Sefaria.org – find other translations at biblegateway.com
If a man lies with a male as one lies with a woman, the two of them have done an abhorrent thing; they shall be put to death—their bloodguilt is upon them
וְאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִשְׁכַּ֤ב אֶת־זָכָר֙ מִשְׁכְּבֵ֣י אִשָּׁ֔ה תּוֹעֵבָ֥ה עָשׂ֖וּ שְׁנֵיהֶ֑ם מ֥וֹת יוּמָ֖תוּ דְּמֵיהֶ֥ם בָּֽם׃
Not to throw men under the bus but this says nothing about non-men. Of course, I’m all for solidarity so I’m all in on learning the best arguments for why these laws shouldn’t restrict human flourishing and queerness in Jewish community. There are many excellent arguments which you can research on your own. Some scholars to search and on whose shoulders I stand are Rabbi Steven Greenberg, Joshua Lesser, Gregg Drinkwater, David Shneer, Rabbi Benay Lappe, Noam Sienna and many, many, many more.
Here is an argument of my own I’d love to share with you. It relies on the idea that repetition signals importance – the more the Torah repeats something, the more we need to pay attention to it.
For example, we are told many, many times to love the stranger as ourselves. To name a few:
“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him” (Exodus 22:20 and 23:9)
“The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the LORD am your God.” (Lev 19:34 and Leviticus 20:1)
“Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:18)
“You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19 and 23:8)
That is seven times, at least. But men lying with men? Twice – to boot, within the same source. Let me explain.
In the Documentary Hypothesis, the Torah was created by a compiler (which might be a school, a line of scholars, a few people) piecing together multiple documents from multiple sources over time. Documentary Hypothesis suggests that there were four major documents that had different motivations, audiences, versions of stories, and even names for places and people. Mt. Sinai is also called Mt. Horeb, for example.
Within this hypothesis, we find that the lines in Leviticus about men lying with men come from the same source, which we call the Priestly source, or P for short. P was concerned with ritual, genealogy, and wrote in a style that reminds me of Ikea instructions. But wait there’s more…within P there is a sublayer which we call the Holiness Code, or H. It is within this particular section that we find the lines.
Furthermore, there are two other places in Torah that discuss what we call “sexual morality laws:” in Deuteronomy 22:13-28 and in Exodus 22:15-18 (which we call the Covenant Code). In both of these places, there is no mention of “men lying with men” or other laws against what would be understood today as “gay stuff.”
This is the point: these two laws in Leviticus, that have caused so much death and suffering, were clearly only important to one of the 4 sources of the Torah and further, to one subset within that source. Obviously this wasn’t important enough to make it into the book for the other sources, or for the compiler. So, when it comes to which is more important for Torah or Jewish life today – love your neighbor as yourself or men should not lie with men? Do I even need to ask?
I add this argument to the conversation because I believe the way we read Torah needs to expand to include archeological and historical criticism. For me, Torah didn’t fall from the sky. However, I do believe it is sacred and must be read with respect and curiosity in community – and when done so, Torah offers us great wisdom. If we kid ourselves about why we read Torah, we will teach our kids that Torah is nothing more than a performance.
If we are honest about looking at all of the evidence concerning where Torah came from, we actually create more opportunity for connection to it. How beautiful that a text was knit together and preserves multiple versions – Torah was born in disagreement – in conversation and compromise. It was born holding multiple perspectives. So, sure, maybe the H felt this way about men lying with men. But the other sources are silent about it. How can this change our methods of interpretation?