Male homosexual relations are clearly forbidden by the Torah (Leviticus 18,22). Such acts are condemned in the strongest possible terms, as abhorrent, and are punishable by death (Leviticus 20,13), as are the sins of adultery, incest, and bestiality.

It is important to note, however, that it is homosexual acts that are forbidden, not homosexual orientation. The Torah focuses on a person's actions rather than a person's desires. A man's desire to have sex with another man is no more a sin than his desire to have sex with another man's wife, so long as he does not act upon that desire. In fact, Jewish tradition recognizes that a person who chooses not to do something because it is forbidden is worthy of more merit than someone who simply chooses not to do it because he does not feel like doing it; thus, a man who feels such desires but does not act upon them is worthy of more merit in that regard than a man who does not feel such desires.

Interestingly, female homosexual relations are not specifically mentioned by the Written Torah, but are only forbidden in the general prohibition of "the [lewd] practices of Egypt" (Leviticus 18,3, translated "the doings of the land of Egypt" in the JPS Bible).