Overview

Queering the Text: Biblical, Medieval, and Modern Jewish Stories grapples with traditional midrashim, plays with homoerotic love poems from medieval Spain, and envisions alternate versions of the present. Inspired by the pioneering work of Jewish feminists, using the same narrative tools as the rabbis of old, Ramer has crafted stories that anchor queer lives in the three-thousand-year-old history of the Jewish people.

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9781532665127

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There are satirical flourishes that put one in mind of Jonathan Swift.... Ramer's [work] infused as it is with a queer imprimatur, is a delightful, even surprising read, perfect for those sporadic moods when you want to queer the text. --Thom Nickels, for Lambda Literary Foundation Ramer reads sacred texts and the historical experiences of medieval Jews with a bold, penetrating gaze that opens us up to the reality that Jews have always been queer. With brilliant chutzpah, he claims ownership of our traditions for us all. --Rabbi Jacob J. Staub, Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Spirituality, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College I feel like Shakespeare's Miranda, who, smitten by the vision of people beyond her imaginings, whispered: 'O wonder! How many godly creatures are there here! How beauteous [hu]mankind is! Oh brave new world! That has such people in't.' (The Tempest, Act V, Scene I). --Rabbi Lisa A. Edwards, Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC) Los Angeles Andrew Ramer claims one of the goals of this book is to prevent others from feeling like they have to wander in the wilderness seeking to find a spiritual home in our tradition. To me the richness here is joining Ramer on the wandering. Reading him is like following a diviner into the desert only to discover that he is miraculously able to find water buried deep beneath the layers. Drinking from the waters of his discoveries in the text is to understand how our tradition is compared to m'kor chayim, living waters. --Rabbi Josh Lesser, Congregation Bet Haverim, Atlanta

"""There are satirical flourishes that put one in mind of Jonathan Swift.... Ramer's [work] infused as it is with a queer imprimatur, is a delightful, even surprising read, perfect for those sporadic moods when you want to queer the text."" --Thom Nickels, for Lambda Literary Foundation ""Ramer reads sacred texts and the historical experiences of medieval Jews with a bold, penetrating gaze that opens us up to the reality that Jews have always been queer. With brilliant chutzpah, he claims ownership of our traditions for us all."" --Rabbi Jacob J. Staub, Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Spirituality, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College ""I feel like Shakespeare's Miranda, who, smitten by the vision of people beyond her imaginings, whispered: 'O wonder! How many godly creatures are there here! How beauteous [hu]mankind is! Oh brave new world! That has such people in't.' (The Tempest, Act V, Scene I)."" --Rabbi Lisa A. Edwards, Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC) Los Angeles ""Andrew Ramer claims one of the goals of this book is to prevent others from feeling like they have to wander in the wilderness seeking to find a spiritual home in our tradition. To me the richness here is joining Ramer on the wandering. Reading him is like following a diviner into the desert only to discover that he is miraculously able to find water buried deep beneath the layers. Drinking from the waters of his discoveries in the text is to understand how our tradition is compared to m'kor chayim, living waters."" --Rabbi Josh Lesser, Congregation Bet Haverim, Atlanta"

Author Information

Andrew Ramer is the author of three other books of midrashim: Torah Told Different: Stories for a Pan/Poly/Post-Denominational World; Deathless: The Complete, Uncensored, Heartbreaking, and Amazing Autobiography of Serach bat Asher, the Oldest Woman in the World; and Fragments of the Brooklyn Talmud. The world's first ordained interfaith maggid (sacred storyteller), he lives in Oakland, California, up the street from an amusement park called Fairyland.

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