Rainbow Jews

Rainbow Jews looks at the intersection of gay and Jewish identity in American and Israeli film and theater from the 1960s to the present. Through a close reading of the texts of numerous American and Israeli plays and films, Friedman evaluates some of the key conventions that have been employed to construct, critique, and reflect the connection between Jewishness and gay identity in the United States and Israel. Friedman also explores ways in which gay-Jewish playwrights and filmmakers have progressed the reevaluation of sexual norms within Judaism over the past three decades, inspiring and integrating Jewish members of the GLBT community into the overall Jewish historical narrative.

Rainbow Jews deals with the intersection of gay and Jewish identity in American and Israeli film and theater, from the 1960s to the present. Its main area of interest is the extent to which Jewish creative voices in the performing arts have constructed multidimensional images of, and a welcoming public space for, the gay, lesbian, and transgendered community as a whole. Through a close reading of the texts of numerous American and Israeli plays and films (some famous, but mostly lesser known), the author evaluates some of the key conventions and tropes that have been employed to construct, critique, and reflect the social reality of the connection between Jewishness and gay identity in the United States and Israel. Secondarily, the author explores ways in which gay-Jewish playwrights and filmmakers have assisted the re-evaluation of sexual norms within Judaism over the past three decades, inspiring and reinforcing measures across the spectrum of belief geared towards integrating Jewish members of the GLBT community into the overall Jewish historical narrative.

Chapter 1 Homophobia and Tolerance in Judaism
Chapter 2 Jews, Homosexuality, and the Performing Arts in the United States: The Evolution of a Sensibility, 1890-1969
Chapter 3 Gay Jewish Voices Come Out: Plays and Films, 1969-1982
Chapter 4 Kaddish: AIDS, Jews, and the Performing Arts
Chapter 5 The 'Great Work' Continues: Gay Jewish Representations in American Film and Theater, 1990 to the Present
Chapter 6 A Minority within Several Minorites: Jewish-Lesbian Films and Plays
Chapter 7 Queer in the Holy Land: Gay and Lesbian Cinema in Israel