The movie "Trembling Before G-d" is a documentary about Jewish homosexual people that are trying to live according to the Halakhah, Jewish Law. They struggle due to the fact that they want to live a religious life by adhering to rules and traditions of Hebrew scriptures, but normative rules of Halakhah prohibits homosexuality. This review will argue that homosexual people can still be religious adherents of Judaism because they can follow most of the traditions of Judaism and become celibate, as only the sexual intercourse between homosexual people is prohibited in the Hebrew scriptures, not their sexual orientation.
Modern Jewish people value Hebrew scriptures that contain commandments, rules, and traditions of Jewish life that people should follow. It happened with the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism when Jewish people reordered Judaism by changing the main focus of the religion from the sacred Temple to the scriptures, the Torah. The Torah is a set of 5 books that share the common theme of Israel's journey into Egypt and subsequent liberation to travel back to Palestine. It included the "instruction" for the Jewish people. Rabbinic Judaists believe that Moses was given both the written and oral versions of the Torah, called the Mishnah. Later the Midrash or biblical commentaries and interpretations of the Torah emerged. Midrash contained 2 categories, the Halakhah, Jewish legal tradition, and Aggadah, everything else. It is clear from the movie how religious Jewish people study the Halakhah to know more about the normative rules of life of Jewish people. Halakhah and other Hebrew scriptures are of high value for Jewish people.
One of the homosexual people, named David, was concerned with the fact that he follows most of the commandments and teachings of the Halakhah and still hesitates to call himself a true Hebrew person due to his sexual orientation and not having children. According to Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, "Torah says that the normal family structure is the part of the holy society, therefore this normative value cannot be violated by homosexual people who are making a mistake". Jewish people were visiting the Rabbi teachers for seeking knowledge regarding Rabbinic Judaism. Rabbi teachers were respected teachers and are believed to know most of the Hebrew scriptures. David was talking to his first Rabbi teacher about his concerns and his teacher said that according to the Torah David should become celibate and sublimate his feelings into doing good deeds. He said that God does not give us something that we cannot control, that it is hard sometimes, but still possible to manage life challenges. The concept of monotheism was essential in Judaism. David was following most of the teachings of the Halakhah and all of the 10 commandments of the Hebrew. Rabbinic Judaists believe that Moses was given 10 commandments at Sinai by God. David kept the Sabbath holy, kept the Jewish dietary laws, wore a yarmulke all the time, and prayed 3 times a day. Following these rules defines the true identity of Jewish people. Celibacy is a way for homosexual people to live "a happy Jewish life" according to the Torah. In the beginning, the movie shows 2 quotes. The first quote was from the Leviticus 20:13, one of the 5 books of the Torah. A quote says: "A man who lies with a man as one lies with a woman, they have both done an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is on them". The second quote was taken from the Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 20:2. The Shulchan Aruch is the Code of Jewish Law that was written in the Halakhah category of the Midrash. The quote says: "For women to rub against each other in the position of sexual intercourse is forbidden... It is fitting the court to administer lashes for this transgression." Both quotes state that the homosexual intercourse between men and between women is prohibited. Celibacy denotes that a person will abstain from any sexual intercourse. This way homosexual Jewish people will not breach any rule of the Halakhah.
Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox Rabbi, in his interview says that "when the child says to his parents that he is gay, then his parents should suggest interpreting the Torah in another way so that the child will continue to be in love with Torah and understand that there is a way to live a decent and happy Jewish life". This quote shows one of the Judaists traditions of constantly interpreting the Torah. Midrash contains commentaries and interpretations of the Torah that was collected from different Rabbinic teachers and sages. Therefore it was a common theme to reinterpret the Torah and commentaries were subject to revaluation. Different Rabbis and sages were writing their commentaries to the Torah in the Midrash and Gemara. A psychiatrist that was also interviewed in this movie told a story about a homosexual man who visited a Rabbi and surprised him with the new definition of homosexual intercourse. Therefore it is possible that the idea of sexual intercourse and celibacy is a new topic for Judaism that was not addressed deeply and is open for reinterpretation.
To sum up, "Trembling Before G-d" shows that even if a person is not naturally heterosexual, he or she still can be religious Jewish and adhere to the rules and traditions of the Hebrew scriptures for defining themselves as true Jewish identity. Historically ideas written in Hebrew were subject to change and reinterpretation and therefore they may include commentaries regarding sexual orientation.
Modern Jewish people value Hebrew scriptures that contain commandments, rules, and traditions of Jewish life that people should follow. It happened with the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism when Jewish people reordered Judaism by changing the main focus of the religion from the sacred Temple to the scriptures, the Torah. The Torah is a set of 5 books that share the common theme of Israel's journey into Egypt and subsequent liberation to travel back to Palestine. It included the "instruction" for the Jewish people. Rabbinic Judaists believe that Moses was given both the written and oral versions of the Torah, called the Mishnah. Later the Midrash or biblical commentaries and interpretations of the Torah emerged. Midrash contained 2 categories, the Halakhah, Jewish legal tradition, and Aggadah, everything else. It is clear from the movie how religious Jewish people study the Halakhah to know more about the normative rules of life of Jewish people. Halakhah and other Hebrew scriptures are of high value for Jewish people.
One of the homosexual people, named David, was concerned with the fact that he follows most of the commandments and teachings of the Halakhah and still hesitates to call himself a true Hebrew person due to his sexual orientation and not having children. According to Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, "Torah says that the normal family structure is the part of the holy society, therefore this normative value cannot be violated by homosexual people who are making a mistake". Jewish people were visiting the Rabbi teachers for seeking knowledge regarding Rabbinic Judaism. Rabbi teachers were respected teachers and are believed to know most of the Hebrew scriptures. David was talking to his first Rabbi teacher about his concerns and his teacher said that according to the Torah David should become celibate and sublimate his feelings into doing good deeds. He said that God does not give us something that we cannot control, that it is hard sometimes, but still possible to manage life challenges. The concept of monotheism was essential in Judaism. David was following most of the teachings of the Halakhah and all of the 10 commandments of the Hebrew. Rabbinic Judaists believe that Moses was given 10 commandments at Sinai by God. David kept the Sabbath holy, kept the Jewish dietary laws, wore a yarmulke all the time, and prayed 3 times a day. Following these rules defines the true identity of Jewish people. Celibacy is a way for homosexual people to live "a happy Jewish life" according to the Torah. In the beginning, the movie shows 2 quotes. The first quote was from the Leviticus 20:13, one of the 5 books of the Torah. A quote says: "A man who lies with a man as one lies with a woman, they have both done an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is on them". The second quote was taken from the Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 20:2. The Shulchan Aruch is the Code of Jewish Law that was written in the Halakhah category of the Midrash. The quote says: "For women to rub against each other in the position of sexual intercourse is forbidden... It is fitting the court to administer lashes for this transgression." Both quotes state that the homosexual intercourse between men and between women is prohibited. Celibacy denotes that a person will abstain from any sexual intercourse. This way homosexual Jewish people will not breach any rule of the Halakhah.
Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox Rabbi, in his interview says that "when the child says to his parents that he is gay, then his parents should suggest interpreting the Torah in another way so that the child will continue to be in love with Torah and understand that there is a way to live a decent and happy Jewish life". This quote shows one of the Judaists traditions of constantly interpreting the Torah. Midrash contains commentaries and interpretations of the Torah that was collected from different Rabbinic teachers and sages. Therefore it was a common theme to reinterpret the Torah and commentaries were subject to revaluation. Different Rabbis and sages were writing their commentaries to the Torah in the Midrash and Gemara. A psychiatrist that was also interviewed in this movie told a story about a homosexual man who visited a Rabbi and surprised him with the new definition of homosexual intercourse. Therefore it is possible that the idea of sexual intercourse and celibacy is a new topic for Judaism that was not addressed deeply and is open for reinterpretation.
To sum up, "Trembling Before G-d" shows that even if a person is not naturally heterosexual, he or she still can be religious Jewish and adhere to the rules and traditions of the Hebrew scriptures for defining themselves as true Jewish identity. Historically ideas written in Hebrew were subject to change and reinterpretation and therefore they may include commentaries regarding sexual orientation.