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In Israel, where the Orthodox rabbinate wields historically sanctioned influence over the legal definitions of marriage and parenthood, same-sex parenthood raises important questions such as what constitutes belonging to the national collective, who has the authority to define the norms of reproduction, and where the boundaries of Orthodox Judaism begin and end. Judaism in Motion addresses these questions from a transgenerational perspective that pays heed to how religiously informed rules, norms, and practices of transferring material properties, names, and societal belonging are adopted and transformed. It presents a detailed ethnographic account of the dynamic interaction between kinship, religion, and the state that complicates the commonly held assumption that places same-sex parenthood in a radically secular sphere that stands in stark opposition to Orthodox Judaism. Taking same-sex parenthood as a prism through which society at large is reflected, this volume further explores how transformations of societal structures take place, and what flexibility and leeway exist in organized religions.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Orientations.- Chapter 2: Rachel's cry and the paths to lesbian motherhood.- Chapter 3: DNA tests, mamzerut, and the bureaucracies of transnational surrogacy.- Chapter 4: Struggles over recognition.- Chapter 5: Making Jewish children and questions of belonging.- Chapter 6: Transformations from within.- Chapter 7/Conclusion: Same-sex parenthood and the making of Jewish continuity.
About the author
Sibylle Lustenberger is Researcher and Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
