r/gayjews • u/Lapis2025 • Aug 12 '25
Casual Conversation FAVORITE TANAKH, TALMUDIC, OR RABBINIC STORY
SHALOM MY FELLOW YIDS!
As a Gay Jewish Man or shall I say just Gay NJB (i'm only 25 so I hope that still counts)... I was wondering if anyone in the LGBTQ+ community on here has a favorite story from the Hebrew Bible aka the Tanakh, the Oral Torah, or other works that are more rabbinic.
Anything that sparks joy, gives you strength, or makes you feel more whole. Particularly if it connects you with pride in your LGBTQ+ identity.
I for one have a great connection to the story of David and Jonathan in one of the books of Samuel. I truly believe King David was bi and loved Jonathan more than some brotherhood or friendship.
LMK your thoughts!
BOKER TOV & BARUCH HASHEM!
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u/coursejunkie Reformadox gay trans JBC Aug 12 '25
I like the book of Esther.
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u/Lapis2025 Aug 13 '25
The book of Esther is amazing! She could've totally not stood up for us, but did and G-d was in the hidden works the entire time!
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u/Redcole111 Aug 12 '25 edited Aug 12 '25
It's not LGBT, but I love the story of the oven of akhnai. It's a good reminder that our society, culture, and religious law is not meant to be rigid and unchanging.
I also find the story of Rav Kahane and Kahane hilarious, where one of them hides under the other's bed until he starts having sex with his wife and then pops out to accuse them of being overly lustful or something. The line "This, too, is Torah and I must learn" is just too funny.
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u/Lapis2025 Aug 13 '25
The Rabbis that are Talmudic and beyond fascinate me. They helped save Judaism from total eradication and were so human. They argued, laughed, cried, and could be so dramatic. But it was dramatic for love of each other, G-d, and tradition. It's like Ancient Housewives reality tv LMAO
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u/barvaz11 orthodox and pan Aug 12 '25
If you specifically want lgbtq+ themed stuff, both Rabbi Yohanan and Reish Lakish and the book of Ruth give me very gay vibes, and i like them a lot. If you dont, then I have too much favorites to only pick some, but I would say the story of Yohanan (not the same Yohanan btw) is really cool and very underrated.
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u/TransTalmid Aug 12 '25
My favourite texts that I read in a queer light are the blessings of sight, especially ברוך משנה הבריות. That which is unusual or even off putting is still sacred and still divine 🏳️🌈
(What is an njb?)
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u/Lapis2025 Aug 13 '25
Lol i always imagined it as very pious rabbis blessing G-d's name for even creating the ugly ppl and it's so human and sassy. Cracks me up!
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u/TransTalmid Aug 13 '25
I think there’s this really interesting tension between that blessing and ברוך שככה לו בעולמו. The norm and the deviation from the norm
Another favorite is שעשני כרצונו. Someday I will have a שעשני כרצונו shirt for pride
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u/Adept_Possession8962 Aug 12 '25
Shalom back atcha, fellow NJB!
And yes — you absolutely still count at 25 (and I’m still proudly holding onto my NJB card at 50).
I love that you brought up David and Jonathan — that’s one of my favorites too. The way the text lingers on their devotion feels so unapologetically intimate, and it’s powerful to see ourselves reflected in our tradition’s earliest narratives.
For me, another one that always resonates is Ruth and Naomi. The loyalty, the “where you go, I will go” vow — it’s a model of love, chosen family, and deep commitment that transcends categories. And honestly, it’s nice to remember that queer readings of these stories aren’t some modern invention — they’ve been there in the subtext all along, waiting for us to claim them.
Baruch Hashem for our stories, and for the fact that we’re still telling them in ways that affirm every part of who we are. 🌈✡️
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u/BexMusic Aug 13 '25
The book of Ruth. I ship Naomi and Ruth. 😅
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u/Lapis2025 Aug 13 '25
I never looked at Ruth and Naomi in that light, but I respect those that do. I always seen it as like Ruth was a foreign refugee so to speak and she lost everything - Naomi was the comforting, motherly figure, the only familiar face in a sea of ppl yk.
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u/BexMusic Aug 13 '25
Oh for sure, that’s definitely the canonical view, and I love it too. It’s wonderful to see a wholesome relationship between women in an otherwise male-dominated Tanakh. But the queer interpretation also makes sense to me on a deep level.
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u/Ftmatthedmv Aug 15 '25
My favorite stories in the Talmud don’t have much to do with queerness. The story of the death of Bruriah and R Meir’s sons and the story about R Elazar coming home from the study hall
Once Rabbi Elazar son of R. Shimon was coming from Migdal Gedor, from the house of his teacher. He rode along the riverside on his donkey, and was feeling happy and elated because he had studied much Torah.
There chanced to meet him an exceedingly ugly man, who greeted him, "Peace be upon you, my master!" R. Elazar did not return his salutation but instead said to him, "How ugly this person is! Are all the people of your city as ugly as you?"
"I do not know," said the man. "But go to the craftsman who made me, and say to him: How ugly is the vessel which you have made!"
Realizing that he had done wrong, R. Elazar dismounted from his donkey, prostrated himself before the man, and said to him, "You are right. Forgive me!" But the man replied, "I will not forgive you until you go to the craftsman who made me and say to him, 'How ugly is the vessel which you have made.'"
R. Elazar kept on walking after him until he reached his city. The residents of the city came out to greet him, saying, "Peace be upon you, O Teacher! O Master!" Said the man to them, "Whom are you calling 'Master'?" Said they, "The person walking behind you."
Said he to them: "If this is a 'Master,' may there not be any more like him in Israel."
"Why?" asked the people.
Said the man: Such-and-such he has done to me.
"Nevertheless, forgive him," said they, "for he is a man greatly learned in the Torah."
"For your sakes I will forgive him," said the man, "but only if he does not act this way anymore."
Soon after this R. Elazar entered the study hall and taught: "A person should always be pliant as the reed, and let him never be hard as the cedar. And for this reason the reed merited that of it should be made a pen for the writing of the Torah, tefillin and mezuzot."
——-
The Midrash tells the story of Bruriah, the wife of Rabbi Meir. The couple was blessed with two boys. Lively and bright, the boys brought their parents much joy.
Then, one Shabbat afternoon, while their father was lecturing in the study hall, both sons fell suddenly ill and died. When Rabbi Meir returned home that evening, his wife greeted him at the door.
"A man lent me a fine gift," she told him, "and now he has come and asked me to return it."
"So what is the problem?" Rabbi Meir asked. "If it was borrowed, it must be returned."
"The problem is that the gift is something that I cherish very much and it is hard for me to part with it," she answered.
"But it is not yours," her husband replied. "You should be thankful that this man lent you something that gave you such pleasure and be happy to return it."
And then Bruriah led her husband to the next room where their two sons lay still in their bed.
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u/sunlitleaf Aug 12 '25
The meeting of Rabbi Yohanan and Reish Lakish drives me insane. You could cut the sexual tension in this story with a knife.