Standing for Marriage Equality in Israel
I recently ended a three-week trip to the United States and returned home to Israel. This was a particularly emotional trip, as I was in Boston the day of Marathon. I saw firsthand how resilient the people of Boston are in a crisis.
Marriage Equality and Passover: "From Degradation to Praise"
This Passover, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will hear two cases that have enormous impact on equality and liberty in our country. On the first two days of Pesach, oral arguments in California's Prop 8 case and the Defense of Marriage Act case will be heard.
Let My People Go... Forth to the Wedding Chapel!
As a rabbi and president-elect of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, I come here to be with you this morning at the Supreme Court on the very first day of Passover to say: Our nation is ready for marriage equality. This is one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar. It marks the day in Jewish tradition when we mark the Exodus from slavery in ancient Egypt; it marks the beginning of a journey to freedom. Today is our day to march toward that freedom, the freedom to marry. I represent more than 2,500 Reform rabbis. We support marriage equality and have filed Friends of the Court briefs in both today's Prop 8 case and tomorrow's DOMA case. Do not let others tell you that all religions oppose LGBT equality rights. We Reform Jews welcome, support, include, and, yes, advocate full rights and equality, including the right to marry the ones we love.
Celebrating Pride Month by Advocating for Equality
One of the first things we learn in the Torah from the story of creation is that humans were created b’tzelem Elohim – in the holy image of G-d (Genesis 1:27).
Reform Jewish Leader Hails New Jersey Supreme Court Case Requiring Equal Rights for Same Sex Couples
Washington, DC, October 25, 2006- In response to today's ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court requiring swift action by the legislature to ensure equal rights for gay and lesbian couples, Rabbi Randi Musnitsky, Regional Director of the Union for Reform Judaism's New Jersey/West Hudson Valley
Here's How to Advocate for Equality This Pride Month and Beyond
The Reform Jewish Movement is encouraged to see the House prioritizing issues directly impacting the lives of LGBTQ+ Americans, but the Senate has yet to consider the Equality Act or LGBTQ+ provisions in a COVID-19 response bill. That is where we, as a people committed to social justice, have a role to play.
The Struggle to Build a Loving, Accepting, and Ethical Israel
A classmate recently snapped a photo of a billboard promoting Israel’s right-wing Yachad party that read: “So there won’t be a child with a father and a father!”
LGBTQ Life in Israel
A Kinder, Gentler Nation
This week brings us Yom Y'rushalayim (May 8 / 28 Iyar), one of several Jewish holidays commemorating events of war in the modern State of Israel. This one recalls Israel's "recovery" of the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six Day War in 1967.