Eshel Across America
This week we read Parshat Vayera, where Avraham plants an eshel tree to offer rest and sustenance to those who pass by. This simple but profound act of making room…
Get fresh perspectives and behind-the-scenes insights on building LGBTQ+ inclusive Orthodox communities from Eshel’s staff, community, and guest authors.
The Eshel Tree: Rooted in Welcome
It begins with a seed. וַיִּטַּע אֵשֶׁל בִּבְאֵר שָׁבַע וַיִּקְרָא שָׁם בְּשֵׁם ה׳ אֵל עוֹלָם “[Avraham] planted an eshel in Be’er Sheva, and invoked there the Name of the Eternal,…
Keep The Word Close
כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאד בפיך ובלבבך לעשתו Know the word is very close to you- on your lips and in your heart may you enact it. This verse in…
Finding My Way Back to Shul
I was ten years old when I was finally able to put a name to the feeling I had known my whole life – that I was attracted to women.…
Like Clay in the Potter’s Hands
This Yom Kippur, we will sing together: כִּי הִנֵּה כַּחֹֽמֶר בְּיַד הַיּוֹצֵר / בִּרְצוֹתוֹ מַרְחִיב וּבִרְצוֹתוֹ מְקַצֵּר / כֵּן אֲנַֽחְנוּ בְּיָדְךָ Like clay in the hands of the potter /…
A New School Year, An Old Question: Do I Belong?
As summer comes to a close, students, parents, and teachers are gearing up for back to school season. The start of the new school year brings many feelings: excitement, nerves,…
When We Failed to Make Space
“The test of faith is whether I can make space for difference, whether I can make space for the Other.” — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks As the High Holiday season approaches,…
Who are the Leaders for Us and Our Families
In Pirkei Avot, we learn to take initiative for finding ourselves our own Rav to whom we may go for support and advice, and a friend with whom and from…
If You Build It, They Will Come
Two of our three kids came out as LGBTQ a few years ago, one after the other, three months apart. As a pretty open-minded and still very frum couple, my…
Love and Liberation this Tu B’Av
The grape harvest is upon us! It is but one of many socially significant occasions to the Jewish people that coincide with the auspicious date of 15 Av, or the…
You’ve Got to Have Faith
When LGBTQ people come out, the first questions they ask often have to do with place and belonging: where will my home be now, and who are “my people”—my family,…
The God Who Hates Lies and the People Who Blame the Victim
Who is to blame for the destruction of Judea and the razing of the Temple? Every year during the three weeks, including the nine days and the ninth of Av,…
4 Questions to Ask Your Photographer Before Your Queer Orthodox Wedding
When you ask a potential wedding vendor, “Do you know what a tisch is?” the question underneath is usually much bigger than vocabulary. What you are likely really asking is:…
YES to our traditions, AND to our full identities
As observant Jews, we know what it means to navigate challenges and make difficult choices. Across generations, we have drawn on resilience, faith, and commitment to our families, communities, and…
Conformity is a Closet
In the process of preparing my d’var Torah last month (read here), I felt like I was grasping at straws to make meaning out of the hypertechnical nature of that…
A Student too Eager
Eshel has been working with shuls and schools for more than a decade now on policy issues. In 2018 we encouraged schools to “take the pledge,” a document drafted by…
Census and Consensus
This past week’s Parsha, Badmidar, isn’t really my jam; I tend to gravitate more naturally toward the narrative-based chapters contained in Bereishit and Shemot over the intricately detailed portion of…
Saying Yes, AND
This year, I had the pleasure of attending three spectacular weekends: the Eshel in Israel Parent Shabbaton, the National LGBTQ+ Retreat, and Eshel Parent Retreat. While each is unique in…
Why Should We Be Excluded?
This Friday will be the 14th of Iyyar, exactly one month after Pesach. We celebrate Pesach Sheni, an ancient reminder of the value of inclusion. It originates the first year…
One Day at a Time
The season of sefira draws our attention to the passage of time. We mark each day with an account of the days and weeks that have gone by. This ritual…
The Choice to be Visible
As an infant, Moshe was bundled up and sent down the Nile in a tiny raft. Yocheved gave him up, still in vital danger, but spared from certain death at…
Thinking About the Eshel Parent Retreat?
What is it? How do I know if it’s for me? Eshel’s Parent Retreat is a supportive space for Orthodox parents with children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer,…
A Seat at the Table for Everyone
Every year, on the 15th of Nissan, Jews around the world gather around tables, with their families and friends, in their own homes and as guests, to partake in the…
Rest, Reflection, Renewal
After fifteen years of holding Eshel – its vision, its people, its future – I spent three months letting it go. Not abandoning it, but doing something that can feel…
Out in Shushan
The Megillah is, among its many faces, a story about the complexities of identity. A number of its characters are imposters of sorts, struggling to be something that they are…
If You Will It
“If you will it, it is no dream.” Im tirtzu, ein zo agadah. Theodor Herzl was speaking about a homeland for the Jewish people. But as I look back on…
New Queer Resolutions
It’s a new year, and a time full of opportunity to reflect and plan and grow. What will 2026 hold for us? What are we striving towards? What are some…
Lighting Up the Darkness
I remember being ten years old and feeling uncomfortable as I tried to explain to my Christian friends in public school what Chanukah is about. The miracle of an oil…
What’s in a Strategic Plan?
At my first Eshel retreat in 2010, I remember feeling like the idea of queer Orthodox community, or a true observant future was unfathomable. I couldn’t wrap my head around…
Giving Thanks
What Eshel staff are grateful for this year: I’m grateful for continued support in living authentically in every aspect of my identity. – Mendel I’m grateful to have access to…
On Being a Trans Ally
As Jews, we know the dangers that come from dehumanizing rhetoric. For thousands of years, antisemitism has flourished by asserting that we are less human, somehow other than the rest…
Hospitality as a Central Pillar
“And He (Abraham) planted an eshel (tamarisk) in Beersheba, and he proclaimed there the name of the Lord, God of the universe” (Genesis 21:33). Every year, when we read Parshat…
We’re Here, We’re Queer, We’re Making History
Over the past few months, Eshel has had the honor of being featured in the Capital Jewish Museum’s exhibit “LGBT Jews in the Federal City,” which celebrates more than a…
A Sacred Pause
Last week, as we read Parshat Breishit, beginning the Torah reading cycle anew, I was reminded of the words of my colleague Yavilah McCoy: “Rest is an intrinsic part of…
Enjoying the Fruits of Our Labor
While we often include Sukkot in the trio of pilgrimage festivals, Sukkot is really best understood as the last act of the high holidays. After we have examined ourselves, identified…
Lessons from Yonah
When I learned about Yom Kippur in day school, I was told of a magnificent judge in the vast heavens, passing verdicts on the other side of slowly closing gates.…
Finding My Voice
As a closeted Orthodox kid, I internalized explicit and implicit messages about my identity that led me to self-censor various forms of expression, out of fear that doing so would…
We Don’t Grieve Alone
It is not good for humanity to be alone. לֹא־טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ Loneliness is the first aspect of creation judged to be bad by God. Yet it is this…
Three Weddings, One Marriage
I was married three times, to the same person. Our first wedding was almost everything I could have hoped for – spiritual, communal, religious, and deeply meaningful. The only problem…
The Rainbow of Belonging
When I began working for Eshel in June one year ago, one of my first questions was “why are there no rainbows in our logo? Aren’t we proud?” I learned…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
Putting the Matza Back Together
On Pesach, before we can begin to tell the story of yetziat mitzrayim, we perform Yahatz by breaking the middle of our three matzot in two. Pesachim 115b-116a outlines the rationale…
Sowing a Brighter Future
Last week, I had an opportunity to witness an incredible moment of community at our Orthodox Allies Training in Detroit. Towards the end of our time together, one woman raised…
Reimagining “V’nahafoch Hu”: The Joy of Finding Balance
It’s easy to look at Purim and see a story opposing extremes – either very quiet, with hidden identities and secret meetings, or loud with parades in the streets, month-long…
How to Be an Ally Right Now
With attacks on queer and trans rights increasing in quantity and visibility, being an ally feels more important than ever right now. It is also more overwhelming and humbling than…
Building the Community We Need
Every year, as I stand in the closing circle of the Eshel National Retreat, I hear the attendees defining what belonging to this community means to us: connection, friendship, joy,…
New Year, New Goals
As the new calendar year begins, Eshel’s staff members are taking stock of what lies ahead in the new year, both for Eshel and ourselves. While we’ll be sharing some…
Learning to Make an Impact
It’s that time of year: organizations, particularly at the end of the calendar year, will talk about making a year end gift to their work, to make an impact. But…
Holding On to Our Dreams
Every year, I look forward to celebrating Hannukah. In the darkest of times, the lights of the Hanukkiah and the songs of the holiday have always lifted me up and inspired me to renew my faith and hope in our people and in Hashem. This year, I have needed this light and renewal more than ever. As the parshiyot shift to the journey of Yoseph the dreamer, one of my favorite stories of the Torah, during Hanukkah, I’m noticing the parallels between the Maccabim hiding and standing up for themselves, and Yoseph’s journey into and out of a pit and a jail cell for believing in his dreams.
Yoseph knew he was born to be someone different than everyone else around him. He dreamed of things he didn’t quite understand, but nonetheless believed in. He was ostracized and isolated by his own family for sharing his dreams, only to go on to serve a greater purpose in bringing his family down to Egypt and saving them from famine. The Maccabim as well, forced to hide and run, were ultimately on the path that led them back to the restored Beit Hamikdash
Grief and Gratitude: Marking Trans Day of Remembrance
One of the more popular themes for the month of November is gratitude. This year, our theme can be grief and gratitude. How can they both exist, and how do…
Beyond the Shabbos table: LGBTQ+ allyship as a communal responsibility
chaofann/Getty Images Since Oct. 7, I have personally felt caught between my Jewish and LGBTQ+ identities, as though I have to take a stand on one side or another —…
Elul and the Interpersonal
While we often think about Elul as a time of preparation for the New Year, Rosh Chodesh Elul is a new year itself, one of four listed in Mishna Rosh…
What’s Love Got To Do With It?
When I see that rabbis are still advocating for celibacy if an LGBTQ+ individual wants to remain Orthodox, I wonder if they have heard the Tina Turner song, What’s Love…
Failure and Resilience
As I began the intensive preparations for Tisha B’av this year, marked by the start of the Nine Days, I was reminded of a Tisha B’av I spent twenty years…
How Change Happens
How does a community as committed to preserving tradition as Orthodoxy change? In Orit Avishai’s recent book, Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel, she…
A Home to Come Back To
For the last fifteen years, I have worked in fundraising in primarily Orthodox spaces, where I asked for gifts for day schools, Yeshivas, social justice organizations, and special needs support.…
Change is in the Air
Two weeks later, I am still on a high from our Celebration of Eshel. It was an incredible, star-studded night. I’m so grateful that Modi, Leo Veiga, Talia Reese, and Rabbi Gavriel Bellino were able to be on stage with me, our amazing volunteers and staff, and our honorees to help celebrate Eshel’s incredible journey over the past 13 years. What started out as a tiny dream to bring frum LGBTQ+ Jews together once a year has blossomed into something larger than any of us could have imagined.
Unity and Diversity at Sinai
As Shavuot approaches, we prepare to reenact the experience of receiving the Torah at Sinai, as it was experienced by all of am yisrael, across every generation. The revelation at…
Reflection on Pride
In just a few days it will be June, which means it is time to celebrate how far the LGBTQ community has come, band together as a community for more…
What Eshel Means to Me
Our upcoming Celebration of Eshel is our version of a B*Mitzah party. We are celebrating all that we have accomplished so far in the past 13 years, and looking forward…
Creating Communities Where There Are None
Not everyone lives in New York, LA, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, or other cities with large Jewish communities and numerous organizations supporting Jewish life. For LGBTQ+ Jews and those who love…
Seeing Ourselves in Torah
This Shabbat will be Parshat Acharei Mot, which we know can be a painful moment for many in our community because of the prohibitions against same sex relations. I remember…
The Blessings of Totality
At 3:27 on Monday, April 8th in Crystal Lake, Vermont the moon totally covered the sun for three minutes. The recent total eclipse was among the most stunning natural experiences…
The Meaning of Retreat
Dvar Torah on Parshat Tzav Given by Nathan Lindenbaum at the 2024 Eshel Retreat Rabbi Aaron Lichtenstein pointed out two psukim, one in Parshat Tzav and one in Parshat Shmini,…
A Mifgash that Matters
The night before I left for Israel, I talked to a friend about what he should do: his father, who lives on the other side of the continent, had just gotten a cancer diagnosis. I remembered back to when my parents had been sick and I had been far away. “Go be with him. He needs you and you need to be near him. You’ll feel better sitting by his side instead of sitting here, wondering how he’s doing. You’ll see with your own eyes
Celebrating Purim as Coming Out Day
What would it mean to celebrate Purim this year as a National Jewish Coming Out Day? Whether for those of us who has been out for years, or those who…
Every Neshama has a Place at Shul
For several years, Eshel’s Welcoming Shuls Project has guided shuls and Rabbis in LGBTQ+ inclusion and helped LGBTQ+ people find the right shul for them and navigate shul life. Despite…
Spotlight on Social Events
A critical part of Eshel’s mission is to build community for LGBTQ+ individuals and their families so that they can break isolation, grow, and thrive. We do this not just…
Crafting Our Own Self-Care Practice
I’m Sara Hessdorf, and I’m excited to be joining Eshel this year as a social work intern. I’m passionate about finding ways to strengthen the Jewish community through empathy and…
Leaping Into a New Month
Another new month! Last month, we explored journaling as a form of reflection. This month, as we enter Adar Aleph and February (a double leap year), let’s explore journaling as a form of self inquiry. Leap years are the way our calendar resets so that we don’t drift too far away from the cycles of the natural world. This month, let’s take a moment to investigate the ways we may have lost our rhythm or feel off-kilter, and how we can return to equilibrium. Whether the changing seasons, personal struggles, or global events are contributing to feelings of unsteadiness, we can utilize self inquiry, journaling, and mindfulness to manage our reactions.
I encourage you to set aside some time to investigate whatever feelings you’re experiencing now, and try to identify patterns of similar feelings in the past. That knowledge of self can help you face the future.
The Story Behind the Warmline
Before Eshel began, I ran a support group for Orthodox women who were LBT. I opened a phone line so people could contact me. Not exactly knowing what I was…
Eshel and the Garden of Eden
Happy Tu B’Shvat! This is a holiday that thrills both accountants and mystics. In the land of Israel, fruit could only be freely eaten from the fifth year after it…
Ritual and Retreat
Rituals give us a predictable format and routine that we can count on; some we repeat day after day, or year after year. And within those predictable ritual moments, we…
A Time for Growth and Renewal
If there’s one thing I believe about new year’s resolutions, it’s that you can do them any time during the year. At time of publication, we’re 9 days into 2024,…
Your Existence is Activism
I was raised in an Orthodox home, and transitioned in 1990. In 1986 I stopped all Jewish observance. I was certain I’d never be welcome in an Orthodox shul or…
Making Space: Being LGBTQ+ and Jewish in a Christmas-Centered World
This month, my neighborhood has exploded with Christmas decorations – on lampposts, on Starbucks cups, and in store windows. The adorable card and gift store next door to me has…
Remembering as a Transformative Act
Remembering those who have died is a communal activity in Judaism. Not just at funerals and shiva, where the community bands together in a big way immediately after someone dies,…
Why We Need the LGBTQ+ Retreat
Last year, after I came home from the National LGBTQ+ Retreat, my dad asked me about the experience. He wanted to know what the retreat was like, and asked me…
Supporting LGBTQ+ Jewish College Students in Crisis
There are no words to describe the agony of Israelis, and all of klal yisrael, over the past month. The brutality of October 7th is beyond words. While our circumstances…
From Suriname to Amsterdam with Jerusalem In Between
Several years ago, at around this time in the Torah cycle, I was rather pregnant and my life was about to change in ways I could not imagine. My spouse…
Caring for Your Mental Health During a Crisis
During the height of our joy celebrating the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, we were all crushed with unimaginable, nightmarish news coming from Israel. Particularly during tragedies of…
Introducing Our New York Program Manager!
We are excited to introduce the newest member of our team! LV joined us recently as our New York Program Manager. She brings a wealth of community building experience and…
Giving a Face to Difficult Texts
The Torah reading for Yom Kippur mincha contains some of the more difficult verses for lesbian, gay, and bisexual Jews. On Yom Kippur, we read both Leviticus 18:22 and the…
First Day of School Jitters
It’s a new year and students are heading back to school. The uncertainty of a new situation brings anxiety and jitters. Whether it’s a new job, a new home, a…
Cultivating an Accepting Home
As a new mom, things like news stories, divrei torah from the bima, even conversations with friends and community members hit differently. I can’t help thinking, “what does this mean…
Oceans and Rivers
The high holidays end with a dramatic focus on water in the form of rain. Jonah finds in the depths of water a renewed sense of God’s patience and love.…
Finding A Home for the Yamim Noraim
אַחַת שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת־יְהֹוָה אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ שִׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית־יְהֹוָה כׇּל־יְמֵי חַיַּי One thing I ask of Hashem, only that do I seek: to live in the house of Hashem all the days…
Celebrating Our New Board Members: Strengthening Our Path to Growth and Inclusion
We are thrilled to introduce and celebrate two exceptional individuals who have joined our dedicated team serving on Eshel’s board. Peninah and Yaakov bring with them a wealth of experience,…
Tu B’av: A Holiday of Love and Liberation
Tu B’av is one of the happiest days in the Jewish calendar. Mishna Taanit teaches: “Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days as joyous for the Jewish people…
The Failure of Too Much Humility
On the ninth of Av, in the year 70, Roman legions broke into the Holy Temple and set it ablaze. We are taught that the second Temple was destroyed due…
The Baal Shem Tov and Compassionate Awareness
One of the most beautiful and fundamental teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement, is that every thought, feeling, and experience contains Divine light, and…
Curiosity Over Contempt
“Two Jews, three opinions.” I was raised to appreciate multiplicity within our tradition. Through my study of Gemara, I learned to wrestle with texts, to ask lots of questions, and to challenge initial assumptions. I was taught the value of makhloket leshem shamayim, conflict in the name of heaven. Basically, I was encouraged to be curious.
So when I came out as transgender and faced some people in the Orthodox world saying that was “against the Torah,” I was confused, to say the least. Where was the complexity and nuance that other aspects of Jewish life are afforded?
It’s Not About Us vs. Them
This Sunday, Eshel will be hosting a forum in West Orange to discuss and learn about what it means to be an Orthodox ally to the LGBTQ+ community. Several members…
When It Comes to a Future for LGBTQ+ Jews, Seeing is Believing
When I got married (almost two years ago!), my best friend was our officiant. This past Shabbat, we kicked off celebrations for her wedding – the second this month of…
Everything is Above Ground Now
I recently spoke to Rabbi Jeff Fox on MaharatCast about the history of the LGBTQ+ community’s presence in the Orthodox world. I reflected on how since founding Eshel, the conversation…
Why I Celebrate Pride
Pride Month, to me, is an occasion to celebrate visibility. It provides an opportunity for a community that can sometimes operate under the radar to proudly showcase our unity.
Inside Our Families, Outside in Our Orthodox Community
2019 Parent Survey and Report Parents are finding ways to manage, but shuls and schools largely fail LGBTQ+ Jews and their families. In December 2019, Eshel held its seventh annual…
Discussing Jewish LGBTQ+ Pride with the World’s First Openly Gay Orthodox Rabbi
Rabbi Steven Greenberg is the first Orthodox rabbi to come out as gay. He is the founding director of Eshel, a non-profit organization that helps LGBTQ+ Jews in the Orthodox…
Inside Out by R. Steve Greenberg
I just saw a truly amazing and profounding moving performance by Derrick DelGaudio in a one-man show, In And Of Itself. We are inviting everyone in the Eshel community and beyond…
Just Like Us study shows disproportionate LGBT+ school struggles
This December our #YoungerMe campaign is raising awareness of the need for inclusive education. A new survey by Just Like Us has found that LGBT+ people struggled with bullies and…
2 JTA Articles on an Orthodox Jewish Framework for Relationships
Leana Tapnack, seen here with mikvah attendant Talia Lakritz at the West Side Mikvah in New York, decided to observe the laws of niddah together with her wife, Sandy. (Courtesy…
The Only Unnatural Way to Be Is Alone
Lo tov heyot ha-adam levado, it is not good for the earthling to be alone (Gen. 2:18). As the product of a traditional Jewish education, I have always heard this…
Kept At A Distance
Isolation is an unfortunate norm for LGBTQ Jewish youth. The Coronavirus pandemic has only made things worse. By Idit Klein, Rachael Fried, Asher Gellis, Miryam Kabakov, and Rebecca Stapel-Wax As leaders…
Changing Not Changing by Joy Ladin – Video
How Orthodox Jewish Communities Respond When Members Come Out as LGBTQ For much of the 21st century, Miryam Kabakov and Rabbi Steven Greenberg have been agents of change in Orthodox Jewish…
Model Yseult Polfliet Has Finally Found Her Jewish Story
The Rwandan model — Burundi-born, Brussels-raised, now New York City resident — wants to create spaces for tough conversations. Read more.
Eshel Newsletter – March 20, 2020
Wishing you a Shabbat of peace and health The last time I was in a room filled with people… …I was celebrating Purim in shul. The wild costumes…
Coronavirus – by Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Rabbi Nathan Cardoza, a long-time rabbinic ally and a friend has shared with some colleagues this very thoughtful article. While we are in the midst of a dangerous and fearful…
How Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network Was Born
By Ruben Shimonov As a traditional Mizrahi-Sephardic gay Jewish immigrant, I never thought that it would be within the realm of possibility for me to proudly and confidently hold all…
Bridging the Divides, Fostering Inclusivity: Panel Discussion with Miryam Kabakov
(This speech was given Miryam Kabakov, Executive Director of Eshel, at the panel discussion entitled ” Bridging the Divides, Fostering Inclusivity: Rabbinic, Psychoanalytic and Academic Perspectives on Traditional Judaism and…
R. Steve Greenberg’s Speech at the We, Too, Are YU March
Calling Yeshiva University to Rise Up and Fulfill Its Own Aspirational Values I am Steve Greenberg, the founding director of Eshel, a support, education and advocacy organization for LGBTQ Orthodox…
Contemporary Orthodox Rabbis Speak
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, in an article written in nearly twenty years ago, stated the challenge for rabbis in these words: “…. how can we deny a human being the expression…
Rav Benny Lau “The Religious Community and Homosexuality”
I want to begin with a story from 26 years ago. It’s about 1993 and it was my first year as a rabbi in Kibbutz Sa’ad, in the Negev.…
Shavuot and the Wellbeing of LGBTQ+ Youth
For ten days last month, we accompanied two of our British colleagues from Keshet UK to five US states as they shared a rather unusual story. Dalia Fleming and Benjamin…
The Day My Rainbow Got Kicked Out of Shul
I am an Orthodox Jew. I’m also an openly Bi-woman who is an active part of the Jewish LGBTQ community, particularly the Orthodox group for support and acceptance called Eshel.…
Between Acharei-Mot and Kedoshim
My bar mitzvah date was totally messed up. The synagogue bureaucrat who assigned it gave me the double portion of Aharei-Mot/Kedoshim to be read on April 26, 1969. But I was born in…
INSIDE – OUT: Purim as a Jewish Coming-Out Day
…Esther is told by her cousin, guardian, and Jewish conscience Mardochee (Mordecai) that the time for her revelation has come; at this moment the particular operation of suspense around her…
My Orthodox Rabbi Father Taught Me To Love LGBT People
Originally posted on The Forward Adrianna Chaviva Freedman is an entertainment writer living in New York City. You could find her work on her website and follow her on Twitter at @ac_freedman. Growing…
Homosexuality and the Human Condition
Originally posted on Times of Israel For those who think that Orthodox means static and unresponsive to new understanding, well, think again. In a recent interview (in Hebrew) by a…
Why Orthodox synagogues should welcome gay couples
A halachic approach to the inclusion of same-sex couples in Orthodox communities by Rabbi Dr. Zev Farber Orthodox Jewish homosexuals in committed relationships who wish to remain part of…
Coming Out Orthodox
by: Rabbi Haim Ovadia Today I would like to address a question presented to me by many orthodox parents, but first, a brief introduction. It seems that the phrase dreaded…
What is Truly Great About America: From Sea to Shining Sea
by Rabbi Steve Greenberg This Thanksgiving my husband, daughter and I are in Columbus, Ohio celebrating with my family. I love going home, for my mother’s marvelous cooking and for…
The biggest challenge to ’emunah’ of our time
By Rabbi Ari Segal, Head of School Graphic by Gabe Silverstein and Jordan Levine, shalhevetboilingpoint.com, used by permission This op-ed article first appeared in The Boiling Point, the news…
Some Rabbis Fail, Others Rise Above
Shlomit Metz-Poolat When rabbis fail, they don’t just fail me or my family, they fail their community as a whole. This is my story, about how rabbis — and so…
Why I Still Need Eshel
It’s about 7:45 pm on Friday. I’m feeling some pressure about tonight’s dinner, like I don’t need Eshel anymore. Like I could be doing something more interesting, or convenient. Or…
Support Rabbi Bodner and Rabbi Bellino
Stanton Street Shul and the Sixth Street Community Synagogue have welcomed Eshel into their community for a Downtown Manhattan shabbaton. Unfortunately, a group of local religious leaders is pressuring them…
Barry Youngerman, Z”L, Biography and Eulogy
The Life of Barry Youngerman, Zichrono Livracha (Of Blessed Memory) August 7, 1946 – October 10, 2015 Barry Youngerman was born in the east Bronx in 1946 to Henry Youngerman…
Merchav Batuach off and running with a great start!
Nov. 1, 2015 Last month we launched the year’s Merchav Batuach trainings at Queens College, with a meeting of Orthodox allies . The student-organizers were concerned: would those who signed…
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