Trans Talmud : androgynes and eunuchs in rabbinic literature / Max K. Strassfeld.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Strassfeld, Max K., 1976- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gender nonconformity--Religious aspects--Judaism.

Gender nonconformity.

Sex in rabbinical literature.

Androgyny (Psychology)--Religious aspects.

Androgyny (Psychology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (369 pages)

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2022]

Summary:

Trans Talmud places eunuchs and androgynes at the center of rabbinic literature and asks what we can learn from them about Judaism and the project of transgender history. Rather than treating these figures as anomalies to be justified or explained away, Max K. Strassfeld argues that they profoundly shaped ideas about law, as the rabbis constructed intricate taxonomies of gender across dozens of texts to understand an array of cultural tensions. Showing how rabbis employed eunuchs and androgynes to define proper forms of masculinity, Strassfeld emphasizes the unique potential of these figures to not only establish the boundary of law but exceed and transform it. Trans Talmud challenges how we understand gender in Judaism and demonstrates that acknowledging nonbinary gender prompts a reassessment of Jewish literature and law.

Contents:

Intro

Imprint

Subvention

Title

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Transing Late Antiquity: The Politics of the Study of Eunuchs and Androgynes

2. The Gendering of Law: The Androgyne and the Hybrid Animal in Bikkurim

3. Sex with Androgynes

4. Transing the Eunuch: Kosher and Damaged Masculinity

5. Eunuch Temporality: The Saris and the Aylonit

Conclusion: Rereading the Rabbis Again

Notes

Bibliography

Glossary

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780520382060

0520382064

OCLC:

1295278155