Mar 14, 2013 | Eshel in the News
Orthodox Parents of LGBT Children Navigate Their Own Coming Out Process A weekend retreat inspires advocacy for gay Orthodox Jews and creates a support network for families in religious communities It was telling that Eshel—the national organization offering community and programming for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Jews and their families in Orthodox communities—held its second [more]
Dec 12, 2012 | Eshel in the News
At Hanukkah, rejoicing over peaceful victory for same-sex marriage Loving couples triumphed over wrong beliefs, just as Jews did over the Greek army in ancient Israel. PORTLAND — We Jews are now celebrating Hanukkah. Long ago in ancient Israel, a small band of Jews fought against a much larger Greek army and the Jews won. While [more]
Sep 15, 2012 | Eshel in the News
Senior Year: APs, College Prep, and Coming Out in My Orthodox High School When I tell my friends who are not Orthodox that I’m out of the closet and attending a Modern Orthodox high school, many of them do a double take. Why would I subject myself to that, they ask. One even asked why I hadn’t [more]
Sep 14, 2012 | Eshel in the News
Eshel Goes to the Midwest! Amram Altzman courtesy of the American Jewish World “Eshel is the only place where I feel completely comfortable. I am completely out as a lesbian and I am not being judged (by outsiders) as an Orthodox Jew.” This quote, from Shulamit, one of the participants at Eshel’s recent Midwest Retreat, [more]
Sep 9, 2012 | Eshel in the News
Suicide rates high for Orthodox homosexual youths Research shows 20% of LGBT sample attempted suicide, compared to 3.5% rate for general youth population. Suicide rates among Orthodox homosexual youth are dramatically higher than that of their heterosexual peers, research published last week showed. The research on suicide among all Israeli youth, conducted by Hannah Bar-Yosef, [more]
Aug 14, 2012 | Eshel in the News
Orthodox Gays Need Allies, Not Just Compassion A few months ago, a young Orthodox rabbi decided to “come out of the closet,” in a sense, when he publicly identified himself as an “LGBT ally,” referring to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, founder of Uri L’Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice group, and a [more]
