Jews and Sex (review)

Jews and Sex is an anthology of essays about cultural representations of Jewish sexuality in Israel, England, and the United States from the early twentieth century to the present. While a few of the contributors frame their essays theoretically, most of the essays are close readings of specific artists, films, or novels about or by Jews. Its breadth is the collection's greatest strength as it brings together perspectives from different genres, sexualities, and locales. The volume opens up new directions for cultural studies of Jewish sexuality.

The theoretical essays are the strongest in the volume. Geoffrey Dennis makes a clear and concise argument that both summarizes previous work of critics like David Biale, Daniel Boyarin, and Howard Eilberg-Schwartz and situates erotic theology in Jewish textual tradition. Jay Michaelson looks at Jewish gay sensibilities and questions whether the desire to assimilate to a het-eronormative model is compatible with the disruptive notion of "queerness." Both ask important questions about the fit between a Jewish ethos and the varieties of sexual experience. Gavin Schaffer provides a nuanced understanding of the contradictory views of Jewish sexuality in early twentieth century Britain.

The close readings of films (three Israeli, one British) are also valuable contributions, especially Nir Cohen's analysis of the Israeli film Yossi and Jagger. Cohen argues persuasively that despite the gay love theme at its center, the film reinforces the Israeli cult of hyper-masculinity. Judith Lewin provides a smart reading of the British film The Governess that illuminates its understudied Jewish feminist perspective.

Other essays contribute to our understanding of how the sexual dimensions of the work of individual artists relates to their Jewishness. Essays that analyze the novels of Henry Roth and the films of Woody Allen deal with well-covered subjects in new ways. Alan Gibbs takes a candid look at Henry Roth's sexual shame and its Jewish roots. Thomas Grochowski gives us a sympathetic portrait of Woody Allen as a model for an alternative Jewish masculinity. Roberta Mock's analysis of the works of two contemporary feminist performance artists, Marisa Carnesky and Annie Sprinkle, makes an excellent case for understanding these women as part of a history of a sexualized and embodied Jewish feminism that goes back to the tradition of Sarah Bernhardt.

Unfortunately, several essays try to cover too much while others say much about very little. The authors of several of the essays note that their topics are too broad to cover in a short article. These sweeping studies of the American Jewish stage in the twentieth century, Jews and the porn industry, and intermarriage and stereotypes of American Jewish women only hint at what might be possible in more thorough studies of these topics. On the other hand, essays on "lesbo sensuous" Yiddish poets, "polymorphous perverse" contemporary British Jewish novels, and "post Barbie" Jewish feminist contemporary (British and American) body artists cover minor subjects in (perhaps too much) detail.

This anthology breaks new ground, exploring unstudied cultural contexts for the conversation about Jewish sexuality. The authors' willingness to frame "Jews" and "sex" and the connections between them in the broadest ways creates new objects for inquiry. These essays boldly tackle difficult issues such as sex work, pornography, and antisemitic stereotypes. They question previously held assumptions about Jews and sex, shifting the conversation away from the religious and theological and towards the secular and cultural but also making connections between these worlds. The portrait of a naked Annie Sprinkle as Eve accompanied by fruit and serpent that adorns the cover of the volume reveals the possible new directions for inquiry this book opens up, and this volume is a welcome addition to this field of inquiry.