Eshel Online

Eshel Toronto & Montreal LGBTQ+ Meetup - Cancelled for Sukkot
2021-09-20 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
While all are welcome, this virtual meetup is for Eshel Toronto & Montreal community members (i.e. LGBTQ+ folks who come from Orthodox communities)!

For notifications and sign-in information, please register below (You only need to register for this group one time.)

Join the Meetup

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Eshel South Florida LGBTQ+ & Parents Meetup - Cancelled for Sukkot
2021-09-20 20:00 - 21:30
What: Meet other LGBTQ+ individuals in the area of Miami, Florida! Family members and relatives of LGBTQ+ folks are also welcome to join! Our coordinators speak Spanish and French.
When: The third Monday of each month from 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Upcoming meetings include:
Where: For notifications and sign-in information, please register below. (You only need to register for this group one time.)
For more information or questions, please contact us at southflorida@eshelonline.org.

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Eshel Brooklyn Women's LBTQ+ Meetup - Cancelled for Sukkot
2021-09-21 20:00 - 21:00
Women’s New York Area Meetup on Zoom
What: Meet other individuals who identify as female and who are exploring their Orthodox LGBTQ+ identities.
When: Meeting Weekly: Every Tuesday from 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Where: For notifications and sign-in information, register below. (You only need to register for this group one time.)

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Eshel Drop-In for Parents - Cancelled for Sukkot
2021-09-22 12:00 - 13:00
Drop-in every Wednesday to shmooze, chat, ask questions, and hear topics of interest!
For notifications and sign-in information, please fill out the form below. (You only need to register for this group one time.)

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Eshel Community Virtual Sukkah Hop
2021-09-23 19:30 - 21:00
Please join Eshel’s Community-wide Virtual Sukkah Hop! This event is open to LGBTQ+ folk, Eshel parents, Eshel allies, and members of partnering organizations.
Thursday, September 23, 2021, 7:30 pm ET | 6:30 pm CT | 4:30 pm PT
Zoom in from your sukkah as we hear from Eshel parent Rabbanit Amalia Haas, an organic beekeeper, on the gender roles of bees.
Attention: JQY’s in-person Sukkah event for LGBTQ+ folks, Thursday, September 23, has been cancelled due to weather.

Register here for the Zoom login details, and please consider making a donation after registering. Thank you!

Eshel Teaneck Sukkah Hop - 3 Locations
2021-09-26 15:00 - 18:00
Join the Eshel Teaneck Sukkah Hop, which will be held in 3 locations in Teaneck, New Jersey, on Sunday, September 26, 2021, from 3:00-5:45 pm.
This event is intended for LGBTQ+ folks, parents, and family members of all ages. (This event is not open to allies.)
Please register to receive an email with the 3 locations and times.
Also, please read Eshel’s Policy for In-Person Meetings: you must be fully vaccinated.

Please consider making a donation after registering. Thank you!

Eshel Toronto & Montreal LGBTQ+ Meetup - Cancelled for Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
2021-09-27 19:00 - 21:00

Eshel Parents of Trans People & Gender Non-Conforming Support Group - Cancelled for Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
2021-09-27 21:00 - 22:00
What: This group is for traditional Jewish parents who may be struggling with their child’s gender identity and/or wish to connect with other parents like themselves.

When: Fourth Monday of each month, 9:00 PM EST – 8:00 PM CST – 6:00 PM PST
Where: For notifications and sign-in information, please register below. (You only need to register for this group one time.)
Questions? Email info@eshelonline.org

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Eshel Brooklyn Women's LBTQ+ Meetup - Cancelled for Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
2021-09-28 20:00 - 21:00

Eshel Drop-In for Parents - Cancelled for Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
2021-09-29 12:00 - 13:00

Eshel LGBTQ+ Phone-in Support Group: Postponed to October 7
2021-09-29 21:00 - 22:00
What: Join this anonymous phone-in support group for LGBTQ+ individuals who are unable to attend one of our in-person sessions.
When: Fourth Wednesday of every month | 9:00 PM EST
Where: For notifications and sign-in information, please register below. (You only need to register for this group one time.)
Questions? Email info@eshelonline.org

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Orthodox+* People of Trans Experience Support Group
2021-09-30 21:00 - 22:30, 2022-01-27 21:00 - 22:30
Welcome to Eshel’s Newest Meetup!
What: This virtual support group will be a space for people who identify as transgender, non-binary, and gender questioning. All shades of Orthodox including Chareidi, Modern Orthodox, Ex-Orthodox, are welcome to come and share in a safe and confidential virtual group.
When: Meetings will be held on the third Thursday of every month at 9 pm EST – 6 pm PST.
Where: For notifications and sign-in information, please register below. (You only need to register for this group one time.)
This group is confidential: all attendees are required to adhere to the privacy of its members.
About the Group Coordinator
This Eshel Meetup is led by Joshua Avishur, a transgender Orthodox Jew who enjoys connecting with people and embracing the beauty in all individuals. Joshua is a Masters-in-Social-Work student with experience in mentoring LGBTQ+ folk and developing and leading therapy groups for children and individual counseling with at-risk youth. Joshua is also a transgender panel moderator and panelist.

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Eshel LGBTQ+ Phone-in Support Group - Postponed for Sukkot
2021-10-07 21:00 - 22:00

Marry Me However in Manhattan
2021-10-19 07:00 - 22:00
Register Today Here with the Discount Code: marryme2021

The Wisdoms of Welcome
2021-10-21 19:30 - 21:00
Eshel Across North America Weekend (October 22-24, 2021)
As we read every year in Parashat Vayera, Avraham and Sarah plant an Eshel tree near their tent to signal the welcome of strangers. It is during this weekend that we, the Eshel community, celebrate our commitment to inclusion and dialogue and explore the mitzvah of hachnassat orchim.
The Wisdoms of Welcome
On Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 7:30 pm ET, Rabbi Steve Greenberg will give a shiur on the dangerous delight of Hachnasat Orchim. We are famously exclusive people, yet we have a deep desire to be inclusive. The classical mitzvah of welcoming in strangers can shed new light on the challenges of inclusion. Rabbi Steve Greenberg will explore the rich halakhic and aggadic resources of this mitzvah and its various applications to contemporary life.

Eshel Across North America
2021-10-22 19:30 - 2021-10-23 21:00
Eshel Across North America WeekendOctober 22-24, 2021
As we read every year in Parashat Vayera, Avraham and Sarah plant an Eshel tree near their tent to signal the welcome of strangers. It is during this weekend that we, the Eshel community, celebrate our commitment to inclusion and dialogue and explore the mitzvah of hachnassat orchim.

Check out Eshel Across America Events
DuSiah: Dialogue Between Traditional Queer Jews & Our Rabbis
The Wisdoms of Welcome

DuSiah: Dialogue Between Traditional Queer Jews & Our Rabbis
2021-10-24 19:00 - 21:00
Eshel Across North America Weekend (October 22-24, 2021)
As we read every year in Parashat Vayera, Avraham and Sarah plant an Eshel tree near their tent to signal the welcome of strangers. It is during this weekend that we, the Eshel community, celebrate our commitment to inclusion and dialogue and explore the mitzvah of hachnassat orchim.
DuSiah is a program designed to bring Orthodox rabbis and queer Jews into conversation. The next DuSiah event will be on Zoom, on Sunday, October 24, 2021, at 7:00 pm.
It is entitled: “The Wisdoms of Welcome: Sharing funny, inspiring, awful and awesome stories of being guests or hosts.”
The goal of DuSiah is to pursue mutual understanding rather than agreement or immediate solutions. It is about pursuing mutual understanding as we share the challenge of building an Orthodox community that includes all its children. This is our shared constructive purpose.
After a short introduction, we will move everyone to small “break out rooms” of roughly two Rabbis and two Eshel community members for discussion.
Space is limited, please apply.

Eshel Baltimore/DC Parents & LGBTQ+ Joint Meetup
2021-11-03 19:00 - 21:00
Get together with our Baltimore/DC Eshel family. Join us in this intimate, confidential setting to meet others, like yourself, in the extended Eshel network.
Join us in celebrating the upcoming Rosh Chodesh Kislev with some learning and games. Afterward, we will follow our regular meeting format.
WHAT: A private gathering for LGBTQ+ individuals who are Orthodox, Ortho-curious or formerly Orthodox and for traditional Jewish parents of LGBTQ+ people who may be struggling with their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity and/or wish to connect with other parents like themselves.
WHEN: Meetings are usually held on the first Wednesday of every month, 7:00-9:00 pm.
Where: For notifications and sign-in information, please register below, if you haven’t already. (You only need to register for this group one time.)

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Thanks to Our Baltimore/DC Sponsor

Soon By Q Happy Hour & Bar Trivia
2021-11-15 18:30 - 20:30
Come hang out with and meet other LGBTQ+ Jews over drinks and trivia at our first Soon By Q happy hour! Your first drink is on us.
Monday, November 15, 20216:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Near Union Square in Manhattan, New York.The event will be outdoors.
Sign up for the exact location!
Questions? Contact Monica at monica@eshelonline.org

Registration is now closed! Please sign up for future Happy Hours with Soon By Q!

Eshel LGBTQ+ Phone-in Support Group
2021-11-24 21:00 - 22:00

Eshel Baltimore/DC Parents & LGBTQ+ Joint Meetup
2021-12-01 19:00 - 21:00
Get together with our Baltimore/DC Eshel family. Join us in this intimate, confidential setting to meet others, like yourself, in the extended Eshel network.
WHAT: A private gathering for LGBTQ+ individuals who are Orthodox, Ortho-curious or formerly Orthodox and for traditional Jewish parents of LGBTQ+ people who may be struggling with their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity and/or wish to connect with other parents like themselves.
WHEN: Meetings are usually held on the first Wednesday of every month, 7:00-9:00 pm.
Where: For notifications and sign-in information, please register below, if you haven’t already. (You only need to register for this group one time.)

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Eshel New York City LGBTQ+ Meetup
2021-12-06 19:30 - 21:00
Calling all adult members of the NYC queer community who are Orthodox, formerly Orthodox, or “Ortho-curious.” If you are interested in connecting with other individuals who are exploring their Orthodox LGBTQ+ identity please join us! Members will have the opportunity to mingle and engage in peer-led discussions in a casual and confidential environment.
WHAT: A confidential gathering for people who identify as LGBTQ+ and are Orthodox, Ortho-curious, or formerly Orthodox.
WHEN: The first Monday of every month | 7:30 – 9:00 PM
WHERE: For notifications and sign-in information, please sign up below. (You only need to register for this group one time.)
Questions? Email new-york@eshelonline.org.
Participants are asked to adhere to strict confidentiality.

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Eshel National Retreat 2022
2022-01-14 15:45 - 2022-01-16 16:30
Countdown to the 2022 National LGBTQ Retreat!

Day(s)

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Hour(s)

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Minute(s)

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Second(s)

Friday
3:30 pm – 4:15 pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Batya Levine will lead us is in a musical Kabbalat Shabbat before shabbat begins.
Saturday
Melaveh Malka, Game, and Movie Night
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Games led by Eshel Toronto
8:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Queer Jewish Film Making with Jeremy Borison and Raye Schiller
Two filmmakers will discuss Jewish queer filmmaking and then share their own projects, a film and a TV series, currently in production.
10:30 pm – 11:30 pm
After Party
Sunday
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Option 1: Rabbi Abby Stein
Back by popular demand, Rabbi Abby Stein will teach “Finding Your Place in the Text.”
Option 2: Study Preparation for the Shiur with Rabbi Yitz Greenberg
Rabbi Steve Greenberg will begin with a short limmud of a few key biblical and rabbinic texts to prepare us all for Rav Yitz’s Shiur.
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Orthodox Philosopher, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg takes on LGBTQ Inclusion
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg will share his expansive portrayal of covenantal sexuality.
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Option 1: Bein Hashmashot: Non-Binary Jews Share Their Stories
Joshua Avishur will moderate a conversation with Laynie Soloman and Ben Baader
Option 2: Queer Artist Roundtable
A conversation with Rachie Lewis (writer), Arielle Tonkin (visual artist), Anthony Russell (musical artist), and Joy Ladin (poet) on the sources of their creative energies.
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Chaburah Session
A highlight at every Eshel National Retreat, these small group breakouts give us the opportunity to go deeper, to share highlights of our lives, meet new people, and give each other support and comfort in what we call “Chaburah Groups.”
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
UFARATZTA!
Eshel is in the north, south, east, and west. We will hear presentations of queer traditional Jewish life…somewhere else. Miryam Kabakov will moderate a conversation with Simcha Pollard in Laramie, Jeremy Rodoler in Philly, and Reuven Grant in Ashville.
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
A Journey Toward Leadership
A recently ordained rabbi shares his journey out of the closet.
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Closing Circle

Register Here!

Batya Levine (they/she) uses song as a tool for cultivating healing and resilience in their work as a communal song leader, musician, shaliach tzibur (Jewish prayer leader), and cultural organizer. They believe in the liberatory power of song to untie what is bound within us and sustain us as we build a more just and beautiful world. Batya is a founding core team member of Let My People Sing! and is a Cultural Organizer with Linke Fligl. She offers song, ritual, and workshops in a variety of communities, and composes original music made of Ashkenazi yearning, queer heart-medicine, and emunah (faith/trust). Batya recently released her first album, Karov. Learn more at www.batyalevine.com

Jeremy Borison is a director and writer. He has participated in various programs that explore art and religious identities, as an Asylum Arts Fellow, a writer for JerusalemU, and a participant of Start South. His most recent film, ‘Boxes,’ premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival and won multiple awards. He is currently in production on the feature film ‘Unspoken,’ exploring the intersections between Modern Orthodoxy, queer identity, and the Holocaust. Jeremy also co-leads the Orthodox LGBTQ programming at JQ International.

Raye Schiller (they/she) is a writer, performer, and engineer. Their screenplay Out Again was awarded semi-finalist in the WeScreenplay 2022 Diverse Voices competition and made the CoverFly Red List. Their day job is Lead Engineer at TargetSmart, a political data company. Occasionally you can find them performing standup at their local open mic. They hold a B.A. in Digital Media from Hunter College and M.Eng. in Computer Science from Cornell.

Abby Chava Stein is an American transgender author, activist, blogger, speaker, and rabbi. She is the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community and is a direct descendant of the Baal Shem Tov. In 2015, she founded the first nationwide support group for trans people of Orthodox Jewish backgrounds. In 2020 she published a beautifully written memoir of her journey, Becoming Eve.

Rabbi Steven Greenberg is the Founding Director of Eshel, an educator, writer and speaker who has led the call for LGBTQ inclusion in the Orthodox world. He is the author of Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition, (University of Wisconsin Press) for which he won the Koret Jewish Book Award for Philosophy and Thought in 2005.

Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg will share the evolution of his thoughts on human sexuality and gender. He is a leading Jewish thinker and has written extensively on Jewish religious thought, pluralism, and the ethics of Jewish power. He was the rabbi of Riverdale Jewish Center in the 1960’s, a professor and chairman of the Department of Jewish Studies of City College of the City University of New York in the 1970s, and the founder of CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. In the words of historian Steven Katz, ‘No Jewish thinker has had a greater impact on the American Jewish Community in the last two decades than Irving (Yitz) Greenberg.”

Laynie Soloman is the Associate Rosh Yeshiva at SVARA: A traditionally Radical Yeshiva. They are a passionate teacher of Jewish text and thought, who believes deeply in the power of Talmud study as a healing and liberatory spiritual practice, and they have been teaching for almost a decade in a wide range of communal spaces.

Benjamin M. Baader is Associate Professor of European history, Jewish history, and gender studies at the University of Manitoba, Canada. He transitioned about 20 years ago, yet thinks of his gender as shimmering with indeterminacy. Ben was involved in some of the early Eshel retreats and is excited to become more involved again.
Author of the acclaimed Queer Mystery Novel, The Rabbi Who Played with Fire, Rachel Sharona Lewis plays with themes from Kemelman’s 1960’s mystery series, updating it with her central character, Rabbi Vivian, a lesbian rabbi. Her art is playful and engrossing, while rooted unpreachingly in social justice sentiments. Rachie has worked in Boston’s JCRC to engage synagogues in campaigns focused on gun violence prevention, affordable housing, and increasing investment in renewable energy. More recently, she has been working to engage our community to support and accompany our immigrant neighbors.
Arielle Tonkin (they/she) is an artist, educator, and a recent graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA 2017) based in Berkeley, CA. Arielle’s artwork, rooted in painting and social practice, centers intra-faith and interfaith healing through exhibitions, performances, and workshops. As a mixed Ashkenazi/Sephardi and Arab Jewish teen growing up in the Hudson Valley, NY, Arielle co-founded a Muslim-Jewish dialogue project and learned that arts and cultural programming supported relationships grounded in dignity.
Anthony Russell is a vocalist, composer, and arranger specializing in Yiddish song. His work in traditional Ashkenazi Jewish musical forms led to an exploration of his own roots through the research, arrangement, and performance of a hundred years of African American roots music, resulting in the album Convergence (2018). In 2017, Anthony teamed up with accordionist and pianist Dmitri Gaskin to win the Concorso Internacional de Canciones en Idish (Der Idisher Idol) in Mexico City, eventually forming a duo, Tsvey Brider (“Two Brothers”), for the composition and performance of new songs in the Yiddish language.

Joy Ladin is an English professor and a poet. She became the first openly transgender employee of Yeshiva University, an Orthodox Jewish institution. Joy has published numerous poetry collections. Ladin is also the author of a memoir, Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey Between Genders (University of Wisconsin Press, 2012). Ladin is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Hadassah Brandeis Research Fellowship, two Forward Fives awards, an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, and a Fulbright Scholarship. Ladin teaches at the Stern College of Yeshiva University, where she holds the David and Ruth Gottesman Chair in English.

We can’t wait to see you again!

Thanks to Our Community Partners

Marry Me However - Baltimore - Virtual Event Only
2022-01-23 19:00 - 21:30
Baltimore Community Screening of“Marry Me, However”
Sunday, January 23, 2022Baltimore, Maryland
The film screening and panel discussion of “Marry Me, However” has been changed to an “online-only” event.
Please register to receive the login information.
The suggested donation is $10. You will be able to make your donation after registration.

Soon By Q Happy Hour & Trivia
2022-01-24 19:30 - 21:30
Come unwind and hang out with other young LGBTQ+ Jews at the next Soon By Q bar trivia! We’ll gather over drinks and participate in some friendly competition with NYC Trivia League’s virtual trivia. Click here to register; the Zoom link will be sent upon registration.
Soon By Q is Eshel’s new initiative to build Jewish LGBTQ+ community in New York City*.
Whether you’re looking for new friends, romance, outdoor adventure buddies, or guests at your Shabbat table, Soon By Q is for you.
*As this event is virtual, you are welcome to attend from other locations.
Questions? Contact Monica at monica@eshelonline.org.

Soon by Q Happy Hour and Trivia
2022-02-14 19:30 - 21:30

Marry Me However Film Screening and Panel with JOFA
2022-02-16 13:00 - 14:00
Join JOFA and Eshel on February 16th at 1pm EST to hear from panelists on the documentary “Marry Me However.”

The film tells the stories of LGBT men and women who, for religious reasons, decided to marry against their own sexual orientation, to comply with Torah laws and be accepted into their families and religious communities. We hear painful accounts of confusion, deception, anger, and guilt. The characters experience a journey of self-acceptance and social activism, as they try to affect a change in their religious environments. The film also follows the women who married and divorced homosexual partners, as well as rabbis and psychologists who seek a solution to an unsolvable conflict.

This is a FREE EVENT but registration is REQUIRED to receive the zoom link and film screening link.

The link to view the film will be shared with you a few days before the panel event for you to screen on your own.
The link to the Zoom Webinar will be shared 24 hours before the event.
Please contact sarah@jofa.org with questions.

Purim Shiur: Internal Strength Overcomes External Pressure
2022-03-08 12:00 - 13:00
How do the participants in the Purim narrative show internal strength in the face of external pressures that could have been their undoing? We will learn the salient lessons of the Purim story as we consider this: When the Messiah comes why will we continue to celebrate Purim?

Purim Shiur: Purim as National Jewish Coming Out Day
2022-03-10 19:30 - 20:30
The Purim story contains many characters who struggle with the tension between what they keep hidden and what they reveal. Even God in the Megillah hides at times. This shiur will explore the ways that each character “comes out” and how that process ultimately leads to salvation for the Jews. Is Purim, then, the right time for a National Jewish Coming Out Day?
