Eshel Out Loud

News, Views, and Updates from the Eshel Community

The True Meaning of Pride

The True Meaning of Pride

Since October 7, social media and real-life encounters changed my experience of the world as a Jew: for the first time, I am repeatedly encountering people who think I should feel ashamed to be Jewish. While this is a foreign experience for me as a Jew, it is utterly familiar to me as a lesbian. [more]

10 Years of Welcoming Shuls

For the past ten years, Eshel has been searching for shuls for LGBTQ+ Jews - individuals and families - who want to be part of a frum community. Since the founding of the Welcoming Shuls Project, I have spoken with almost 300 shuls and Rabbis. We work with large and small congregations, independent minyanim, and [more]
Lightening the Load

Lightening the Load

  The journey for most Orthodox parents with a child who is LGBTQ is long and emotional. The social and mental journeys we go through can be difficult, stressful, and joyous. However the most rewarding journey many of us take is the physical trip to Pearlstone Retreat Center for the Eshel Annual Parent Retreat. What [more]
Reading A Perfect Torah

Reading A Perfect Torah

For years I have grappled with the pasuk in this week’s parsha:  וְאֶ֨ת־זָכָ֔ר לֹ֥א תִשְׁכַּ֖ב מִשְׁכְּבֵ֣י אִשָּׁ֑ה תּוֹעֵבָ֖ה הִֽוא׃ Starting around 13 years old, I began to feel immense guilt and shame whenever this pasuk was read aloud in shul, usually by the Rabbi, who also happened to be my father. I thought that Hashem [more]
The Art of Adapting

The Art of Adapting

The world is changing rapidly. And so we, too, must change. Judaism teaches us the concept of tikkun olam: the responsibility to improve a broken world. Buddhism teaches us that human suffering comes from a refusal to accept what currently is. So which is it: do we accept that things just are the way they [more]
Visibility as Healing

Visibility as Healing

Growing up, I often felt invisible. As the fifth of six children, it was easy to fly under the radar as one of the middle children. Although my parents gave us all loving attention, I could be easily tucked away and go unnoticed in my family. To garner individual attention amongst all my siblings, I [more]