in this very book kalonymus ben kalonymus has a long discussion about how you shouldnt trust anyone who drinks water, and that wine is the key to studying the torah. the opening of the book is extremely clearly stating that this book is about the hypocrisy of jewish law and jews and each story within is extremely obvious about that fact
it's not a personal failing to not be well-versed in ק××× ×××ץ ×× ×§××× ×××ץ or ××× ××× because sadly it is a topic that is as yet extremely understudied. there's not even a definitive set of dictionaries to help one parse through medieval hebrew*, and only a select few scholars are working through the extensive medieval jewish philosophical literature to try to help fill that gap
that being said, it does not give you the right to simply take one bad translation of one poem out of context (and boy is this poem heavy in context, kalonymus was a fucking master of intertextuality) and plaster your modern understandings of sex and gender on something intended to be satirical and then accuse a queer scholar of this very topic of erasing its own history just because it knows more than you
somebody asked me why i care about this spreading of disinformation and my answer is this: by spreading lies about queer jewish history, you are making it harder to discuss actual real queer jewish history. additionally, you're participating in the whitewashing of an already criminally under-discussed figure just because you like your made up version of his history better than the actual reality
*it's not nearly as intuitive as youd think. for example, ע××× usually meant "time" and to study ץ×× ××˘×§× meant to study (aristotelian) philosophy and the sciences. there was heavy influence from a variety of genres and regions, like arab adabs and italian proto-pickup artistry (i wish i was joking LMAO look up ××××ת ××׊ק ×Š× ×˘×× ××× ×ר××× and dante's vita nuova it's crazy. theres a nun)
if you are curious about how to discuss queer history without reneging on the whole "sex and gender are social constructs" thing, i recommend the following:
michel foucault - history of sexuality vol. 1
catherine chin - "marvelous things heard: on finding historical radiance"
max k. strassfeld - trans talmud: androgynes and eunuchs in rabbinic literature
after youve shored up your methodology, i recommend the following discussing kalonymus, his writings, and his legacy. it is important to note that the first two publications both have serious lapses in their methodologies including convenient omissions, misleading translations, and a lack of work done in the methodology discussed above
j. chotzner - "kalonymos ben kalonymos, a thirteenth-century satirist"
tova rosen - "circumcised cinderella: the fantasies of a fourteenth-century jewish author"
roni cohen - carnival and canon: medieval parodies for purim (doctoral thesis)
yehuda halper - "aristotelian philosophical programs in the middle ages" (possibly forthcoming)
annaxmalina
gummygunk
dailybridgerton
izzy806
tangentwithtanner
