ABSTRACT
Chapnick writes about Jews who are both lesbian and religiously observant that they are necessarily concerned about what halakha, Jewish law, says about their sexual behavior and life decisions. They seek to understand and interpret Jewish legal texts in ways that allow them to remain true to both themselves and the Torah. Study, interpretation of, and extrapolation from halakhik texts by traditionally agreed-upon methods comprise the archetypal Jewish responses to moral dilemmas, offering ways to make bearable the apparent conflict of being an orthodox Jewish lesbian. Becoming versed in these sources enabled Chapnik to understand what the rabbis in fact said about lesbianism—versus the uninformed homophobia found in much of today’s orthodox world—and to give support to others in Orthodykes who were struggling to make peace with themselves. In this essay the author share her own discoveries from these texts and how they affected the lives of some of the women she knew.
