Rabbinic Gender: Beyond Male And Female
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2020
Published In
A Companion To Late Ancient Jews And Judaism: Third Century BCE To Seventh Century CE
Abstract
This chapter offers an alternative to the more common understanding of rabbinic bodies and genders as always and only situated within a fixed, male–female binary system or framework. It argues, drawing from both tannaitic midrashic and mishnaic sources, that for the rabbis, the existence of genders beyond a rigid, binary framing is so assumed and self‐evident that scripture must reflect this reality; thus scripture is “rewritten” or interpreted to teach this.
Keywords
rabbinic, gender, queer, Tumtum, Androginos, Mekhilta, Sifra, Mishnah, Tosefta
Published By
John Wiley & Sons
Editor(s)
N. Koltun-Fromm and Gwynn Kessler.
Recommended Citation
Gwynn Kessler.
(2020).
"Rabbinic Gender: Beyond Male And Female".
A Companion To Late Ancient Jews And Judaism: Third Century BCE To Seventh Century CE.
353-370.
DOI: 10.1002/9781119113843.ch22
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-religion/403