Questions of belonging: Same-sex parenthood and Judaism in transformation

Abstract

In Israel, the Orthodox rabbinate has considerable influence on the legal definitions of marriage, parenthood and the Jewish collective in general. This article explores how same-sex couples, faced with rabbinic disapproval of their relationships and parenthood, assert the legitimacy of their families in Jewish Israeli society. While many lesbian women and gay men relate to Judaism as a tradition and national identity rather than as a religion, they do not reject religious practices and definitions altogether. I show through the prism of conversion practices and childbirth celebrations that – in close dialogue with their social environment – they carefully carve out a Judaism that embraces their children and families.

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