FALLS VILLAGE, Conn. (RNS) — One day into a three-day retreat for Orthodox Jews who identify as LGBTQ+, Zippy Spanjer looked around and liked what she saw.
A 29-year-old from Rochester, New York, Spanjer was experiencing for the first time what has become an annual pilgrimage where Jews with diverse sexual identities can unwind and be themselves.
“I have not found a place where I am comfortable being both Jewish and queer,” said Spanjer. “In the Jewish spaces, you never know how someone’s gonna think about the queer stuff, and in the queer spaces you never know how someone’s gonna think about the religious stuff. And to me, these aren’t diametrically opposed.”
Spanjer was part of a vibrant social scene with other LGBTQ+ students when she was a student at the Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University, and part of the underground Pride Alliance. But since graduating and moving back to Rochester, New York, her social life has suffered.
Here, however, in the scenic foothills of the Berkshire Mountains at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, she was able to celebrate Shabbat, pray, sing, cry and share stories with 96 Orthodox or formerly Orthodox Jews who identify as queer from across the U.S.
“I feel embraced,” she said.