the Canaanite peoples whose land is assigned by God to Israel . Indeed, the Canaanites have defiled the land by committing these abhorrent acts(to-eivot; 18:26, 30) and the land, as it were, cooperates with God 's plan by“spewing” out its offending inhabitants to make way for the Israelites (18:24ff, 20:22ff). The Torah admonishes Israel to keep far from these practices and instead to observe God 's statutes, which are a source of life(18:5) and holiness(20:7-8, 26).
Rabbinic literature adds relatively little to this legal material. The Talmud contains few mentions of overt homosexual acts and no reports of executions carried out as punishment. We cannot determine how prevalent homosexual behavior may have been in the society of the time. At any rate the rabbinic sources, which we use as the building blocks of our own textual conversation, imply that the phenomenon was either not widespread, or successfully hidden or suppressed. Thus, although Rabbi Yehudah forbids a lone unmarried male from pasturing a beast and two unmarried males from sleeping together under a common blanket, the hakhamim permit these practices, because“Jews are not suspected of homosexual relations and of buggery.” On the other hand, one who avoids even yihud(being alone together) with another man or a beast is deserving of praise.”
It is clear that sages had no concept of sexual identity. The Torah and the rabbis prohibited a particular sex act. This act performed between a male and female was emblematic of marriage and therefore prohibited to those who are not proper marriage partners. In addition, the identification of homosexuality with Canaanite and Egyptian practices suggests that the rabbis connected homosexuality with idolatrous practices.
Sexual orientation is a new category.’ Rabbinic literature does not have a concept of sexual orientation. It deals with permitted and prohibited sexual behavior. The Torah prohibits male-male intercourse and makes no mention of female-female sexual contact. Joan Friedman, points to a passage in Yevamot 76a. Since R. Huna said: Women who practice lewdness with one another are disqualified from marrying a priest. And even according to R. Eleazar, who stated that an unmarried man who cohabited with an unmarried woman with no matrimonial intention renders her thereby a harlot, this disqualification ensues