8 Days of Queer Judaism, Day 1: Bisexuality and Jew

In celebration of Chanukah, I am going to post something each day for the next eight days about the queer Jewish experience. I have some things that I want to share, but I would also really love to get contributions from all you out there in TNG-ville, whether that be essays, rants or even general musings on gay Jewish life, be that holiday-related or not. I am especially interested in submissions that deal with the bi, lesbian or transsexual Jewish experience. I highly suggest you folks send me stuff (Zack@thenewgay.net) or else you might be in for seven days of circumcision jokes- and no one wants that.

(Also, let the record show that this was posted before midnight, and thus counts for the first day of Chanukah. It was a really long day at work.)

I was going to let my first Chanukah post be a little more glib, but given some of the contradictory opinions to Ben's post on bisexuality I thought I would give you all the opinion of Jeff, a D.C. queer who seems to disagrees with Ben on the legitimacy of male bisexuality. It's also a good reminder that Christianity is not the only religion capable of homophobia:

"When I was growing up, my family was a member of Beth El, a Conservative temple in Bethesda. (Conservative temples are middle-of-the-road in the strictness with which they follow Jewish law.) Although my family was not very observant, Beth El was very close to our house, which was a big convenience when I was going to Hebrew school.

On one Shabbat when I was about 12 or 13, Rabbi Maltzman explained what he thought Judaism's view was on homosexuality. I hadn't really thought much about the topic, as I did not see myself as gay at the time, but what he said was striking to me nevertheless. Homosexuals, he said, couldn't help themselves, so they shouldn't be blamed for engaging in same-sex activities. Bisexuals, however, could choose the sex of their partner and it was therefore a sin for them to choose someone of the same sex.

In retrospect, what Rabbi Maltzman said was messed up in so many ways. It created the impress to me that gays were sick, pathetic, and abnormal; that God views you differently depending on whether you are "really" gay or straight; and that bisexuality isn't an authentic identity-- it's simply the ability to choose your orientation.

Speaking of sins... Rabbi Maltzman left Beth El in 2001 amidst a criminal investigation into his mismanagement of temple funds."

Contributor Bio: Jeffrey Light, 28, is a progressive lawyer living in D.C. He is an advocate on issues ranging from transgender rights to affordable prescription drugs. Mr. Light is the founder and Executive Director of consumer rights group Patients not Patents. He holds a BS and MS in Biochemistry from Brandeis University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center. Jeff is also a godless, sXe (straight edge) genderqueer fag who can usually be found at Sticky Fingers bakery or at a local punk or hardcore show.