INTRODUCTION

Marcy Sheiner

Genesis

The idea for a book of erotic fiction by and about Jewish women had its genesis a few years ago, when I was writing an "Erotica Roundup" for the Valentines Day issue of the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Plowing through boxes of anthologies generously loaned to me by the Good Vibrations library, I noticed themes ranging from fairy tale motifs to vampires, along with several ethnic collections. African-Americans were represented by Erotique Noire, Asian- Americans had On A Bed of Rice, and Latinas had Pleasure in the Word. I was immediately struck by the notable absence of sex writing specifically by Jews, arguably the most verbal ethnic group in America. Maybe, I rationalized, the heyday for Jewish women's writing had come and gone with the 1970s women's movement; still, Erica Jong's "zipless fuck" notwithstanding, that burst of confessional novels and feminist theory was pretty much devoid of explicit sex.

Having been around the erotica scene for a decade, I knew that as many Jews as gentiles were writing the stuff--maybe even more. So why no collection?

Judges

Jews have always been subjected to nasty stereotypes, sexual or otherwise. Hitler labeled Jewish women pigs, and the Nazi regime perpetuated an image of Jews as lecherous porn-mongers. Dirty Jew. Jewish Slut. Filthy Kike. The list goes on.

Perhaps Jews had been sufficiently silenced by such epithets. Maybe they were afraid that a collection of Jewish sex stories would feed ancient--and not so ancient--hatreds. Whatever the reason for the lack of a cohesive Jewish erotic sensibility, I decided to remedy the situation by providing a forum. Once I decided to do a book, though, I faced another rude awakening: when I began sending out calls for submissions and telling people I was putting together a collection of Jewish women's erotica, they invariably snickered and asked "What's different about Jewish erotica?" Taken aback, I replied, somewhat apologetically, that I simply wanted stories by and about Jewish women; they may or may not be different; we'll see what they write. Even I didn't expect heavy Jewish content in the stories--but that is exactly what I got.

With one or two exceptions, the stories in this collection are heavily laden with Jewish symbols, holy days, customs, cultural references, and a hefty dose of Yiddish--so much, in fact, that I decided a glossary was necessary. Either my guidelines were interpreted literally, or there's a vast mine of Jewish custom and lore woven into our sexuality that's just been waiting for an opportunity to burst forth. To those who wondered what could possibly be distinct about Jewish erotica, The Oy of Sex is the beginning of an answer.

Deuteronomy

So what are the stereotypes that plague Jewish American women? Two of them are exemplified in the following joke: Q: How do you get a Jewish girl to stop fucking? A: You marry her.

This, one of my all-time favorite jokes, first heard as an adolescent, can be interpreted several ways. On the surface, it says that Jewish women only "put out" to get the brass, or gold, ring. On the other hand, it tells us, frankly, that Jewish girls like to fuck. Unburdened by the Christian admonishments against carnal pleasure, the Jewish girl is more likely to rejoice in her sensuality. This is, of course, a positive identity, one we can at last proudly claim. On the other hand, it feeds the stereotype of the Jewish girl as slutty.

The other half of the joke is the allusion to the JAP, the Jewish American Princess, the Sadie of Funny Girl, who wants her husband to "do for me, buy for me," the spoiled brat who remains untouchable lest her hair and makeup get out of whack.

Other stereotypes are even more unkind: Fat. Loud. Aggressive. Money-grubbing. Unfeminine. The only somewhat positive stereotype is the beloved Jewish mother, who cooks chicken soup by the gallon and bestows kindness upon one and all--but she is generally relegated to the kitchen and seen as an asexual frump.

And where in our cultural images do these stereotypes ever get contradicted? Certainly not by Fran Drescher's whining Nanny. Certainly not by her predecessors, Molly Goldberg and Marjorie Morningstar, Jewish mother and JAP, respectively. In Talking Back: Images of Jewish Women in American Popular Culture, edited by Joyce Antler (New England University Press), June Sochen points to Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice, Joan Rivers, Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler as representatives of "three generations of Jewish women entertainers who operated as shrewd and funny observers of the battle between the sexes, the double standard, and sexuality." Tucker, in particular, "looked like Mother Earth and sang like a red-hot mama." Her schtick and her songs were full of double entendres. But huge, boisterous Tucker was not someone whom most contemporary Jewish women would wish to adopt as a role model.

Chronicles

The stories in this collection shoot stereotypes straight to hell. "The Nanny of Ravenscroft," in her bunny slippers and nightie, is a far cry from the trashy Nanny of television fame. "The Babka Sisters" defy images of asexual grandmothers. "L'Chaim," written by our token shiksa, praises the Jewish woman in ways that we could never do for ourselves.

If there is one stereotype about Jews that rings true, and that we willingly embrace, it's our vast capacity for humor. The protagonists in "Catholic Boys," "Mother Was Right" and "Tammy Wexler Needs Your Help" laugh at themselves and get the rest of us to laugh along with them. The Israeli Personal Ads, which have been circulating on the Internet, are hilarious not by accident. Just finding a name for this collection produced a bevy of jokes from Jews and gentiles alike: suggestions included A Mitzvah in the Night, Hugs and Knishes, My Davenatrix, The J-Spot, Matzoh Balling, and Chicken Soup For Your Pants. The Oy of Sex, coined way back by editor Miriam Wolf of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, won by a landslide.

Another stereotype that holds true is the Jewish love of food: Though contemporary Jewish-American women suffer greatly from body image angst, they love cooking and eating as much as their ancestors did. They may bemoan their ample thighs or asses, but food is frequently simmering on their stoves and resplendent feasts adorn their tables, whether it's the breadstuffs in "Bagels and Bialeys," the vegetarian matzo ball soup in "Shayna's Shabbat," or the groaning board in "Feast of the Harvest."

Lamentations

While many of these stories are light-hearted, others are dead serious. "The Gift of Taking" illuminates how body image affects our sexuality; "The Locusts" plumbs the depths of a particularly Jewish grief. "When Lilith Was Blooming" "celebrates sex, but is at the same time drenched in poignancy. "Nice Jewish Girls," zippy and contemporary, explores the underlying theme of Jewish women's resentment of Jewish men who take shiksas as trophy wives. And "The Shabbos Mitzvah," in which Judaic custom is almost seamlessly interwoven with the theme of dominance and submission, is a startling enlightenment.

Fleshy bodies, tempting food, forbidden liaisons, Jewish grief, internalized anti-Semitism and a few compensating laughs--oy guttinyu, is that all there is? Is it true that being a Jew means suffering, even in sex?

Song of Songs

Most emphatically, no. The female characters in these stories have a strong sense of their sexuality. They revel in their lusty passions, whether on a one-night stand or within a long-term marriage. They mightily enjoy their sex, and go after it themselves or heed the call when others come knocking.

Jewish tradition is steeped in physical joy, including sexual pleasure. God is believed to combine both masculine and feminine attributes, and sex is an earthly mystical union that reflects the greater holy mystery, an act of unity celebrating the divine. The Hebrew Bible's Song of Solomon, also called Song of Songs, is widely regarded as one of the most erotic, sex-affirming passages in all of literature:

...Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor; thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies:

Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins...

This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes...

Come my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages..."

While women in the Hebrew Bible are routinely exploited, banished and shamed, nowhere is it written that sex is a sin. In fact, making love on the weekly Jewish Sabbath is considered a mitzvah.

May all your sexual experiences be mitzvahs.