Sex in the Garden
Consensual Encounters Gone Bad
by Michael J. Broyde and Reuven Travis
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
Michael J. Broyde is a law professor at Emory University in Atlanta who has served in a variety of rabbinic positions throughout the United States. During the 2018 academic year, he was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and in 2019, he is teaching Jewish law at Stanford Law School.
Reuven Travis has taught a wide range of classes, including Jewish law, Bible, and Jewish history, to students from grade two through high school. He holds a master’s degree in teaching from Mercer University and a master’s in Judaic studies from Spertus College. He is the author of From Job to the Shoah: A Story of Dust and Ashes (2013) and Sefer BeMidbar as Sefer HaMiddot: The Book of Numbers as the Book of Character Development (2018).
“Using the ancient text of Genesis, the authors engage in a dialogue with some of the contemporary challenges of sexual expressions exacerbated by hyper-individualism. Selected biblical narratives guide the reader into thoughtful reflections, challenging the behavioral relativism often directed to sex and sexuality. I commend this book to those seeking a counter-narrative based on a freshly interpreted biblical perspective.”
—Greg DeLoach, McAfee School of Theology of Mercer University
“With tender loving care, the authors of Sex in the Garden display an explicit adult-level reading of the book of Genesis to analyze a range of sexual behaviors not normally covered in polite discussions of sacred Scripture—either with adults or children. . . . I recommend the book for all those interested in what the Bible has to say about sex.”
—Jan Love, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
“Behold! In your hands is an inspired and inspiring twenty-first-century iteration of the prophetic mission to be a ‘light unto the nations.’ Rabbis Broyde and Travis challenge the situational ethics of our time through the lens of classical Judaism by arguing persuasively that Genesis presents a template for individuals to use when making real life decisions.”
—Richard Wagner, Loyola University of Maryland