Same-Sex Couples Score a Win in Israeli Court
Same-sex couples still cannot get married in Israel, but victories like these are welcome steps in the right direction. With this year's Jerusalem Pride less than a month away, we have good reason to celebrate.
Senate Committee Passes DOMA Repeal
The Defense of Marriage Act bars federal recognition of same-sex
Ruling Against Proposition 8 Affirms Equality for All
Pelavin: "It becomes clearer every day that we are now, finally and blessedly, on a road that is destined to end with justice for gay and lesbian Americans."
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Discrimination Begets Poverty
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, 20% of homeless youth are LGBT (even though only 10
Hollywood’s Reform Rabbi Takes on a Top American Zionist Role
Rabbi John Rosove has a list of issues for which he thinks the American Reform movement can provide much-needed support in Israel, from African immigration to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Earlier this month, Rosove assumed the position of board chairman for the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), the Zionist wing of the national Reform movement.
How Reform Judaism Got it Right with LGBT People
In Solidarity: Continuing the Journey for LGBT Equality
In just a few days, we’ll celebrate a major milestone in the movement for LGBT equality: the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, declaring marriage equality the law of the land. June 26, the day the decision came down in 2015, also marks the anniversary of the day that two other important LGBT equality decisions were announced: United States v. Windsor in 2013 and Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. For all intents and purposes, June 26, and the entire month of June, designated as Pride Month, give us so much to celebrate in this journey to full inclusion and equality for the LGBT community.
After Orlando, LGBTQ Jews Seek More Than Just Solidarity
As a queer Jew, the solidarity I seek from other Jews is not simply ignoring the passages of Torah that are used to discriminate against LGBTQ people. I seek recognition that homophobia and transphobia actively exist in our modern Jewish community and are perversions within our interpretive tradition. I seek the acknowledgment that religion is too often used to justify discrimination against LGBTQ people.
Book Discussion: Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of The Cairo Geniza
Prior to reading Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of The Cairo Geniza, by Adina Hoffman and Peter Coles, if asked to define a geniza, my response would have been: "a place to bury sacred text that contained the name of God".
Rabbinic Responses (and More) to Yesterday's Orlando Nightclub Shooting
I spent most of yesterday in the car, sitting in traffic, trying to make conversation with my wife, and thinking about the unfathomable horror of the massacre in Orlando. I find it all but impossible to mentally process evil of such magnitude, let alone to understand it.