Jonathan C. Friedman is associate professor of history at West Chester University.

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.

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