delve deeply into our tradition and go beyond a superficial glance and incomplete understanding. Professor Jakob Petu chowski
In the process of examining the traditional material, one must not remain satisfied with first impressions. Rather should one pursue the meaning of a given observance in the Jewish past. Moreover, since, within a span of four thousand years, the meaning was not always uniformly understood and interpreted, it becomes particularly important to discover the main thrust within this tradition.”
[f we examine closely the flux of Jewish tradition over the ages, we find that there was always a balanced orientation that
emphasized enlightened spirituality and generally stayed clear of
extremism. We must find this mainstream in the tradition. It is not enough just to decide what is appropriate for our own community and generation. Tradition is what is passed on from generation to generation and spreads throughout the entire Jewish world.
The first of the criteria,“the major thrust of the tradition,” according to Professor Petuchowski , should lead one to pursue the meaning of a given observance in the Jewish past and its main thrust within this tradition. What then, has been the main thrust of heterosexuality or homosexuality within the millennial tradition? Instead of analyzing the many prohibitions and castigation of homosexuality, let us look at the obverse side of this question. What is the approach of the tradition to heterosexuality?
Zugiut
The rabbis accentuated the significance of heterosexual relationships more than they denounced same-sex relations. This may be expressed in the concept of zugiut,“coupleness,” the quality of being a couple, a sexual or erotic partnership. The term, per se, postdates rabbinic literature, but the concept is prevalent throughout the rabbinic period. We find the view of normative zugiut throughout the written Torah and the Oral Law . The story of creation illustrates this phenomenon:“God created the human in his image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them”(Genesis 1 :27). This specification of the two sexes is