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.
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.
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.
A Waiting Psalm
In these days awaiting decisions on Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act from the Supreme Court, I share this psalm I've written as we wait.
How Reform Judaism Got it Right with LGBT People
Shattered Glass from Carolina to Boston
The sound of glass shattering. Smiles and cheers. That was on Saturday night as Dan and Lauren officially became husband and wife.
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.
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.