A new ritual—Ruth’s Cup—may be added after Elijah’s Cup or anywhere in the seder. Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt, is also interpreted to mean “narrow places.” At Passover, we celebrate being released from the restrictions that limit us and make our lives smaller. We are not fully free as long as we are kept […]
On March 1st, Keshet launched Kavod Achshav | For the Sake of Dignity: A Campaign for Trans Youth to mobilize the Jewish community in support of trans youth, in response to the recent federal roll-back of protections for transgender students in public schools. Joy Ladin underlines the urgency of taking action today to support trans […]
Joanna Blotner, campaign manager of the paid family and medical leave bill that the D.C. Council recently passed, talks about the path to the passing of the bill, and how it’s designed to be inclusive of LGBTQ families. The D.C. Council recently passed a historic paid family and medical leave bill, on which our friends […]
Ilana Kaufman is a nationally recognized speaker, a Jewish community leader with twenty years of organizational development experience, and a published author of many articles, including, “What It’s Like to Be a Black, Gay, Professional Jew.” Keshet interviewed her about her work for the Jewish Community Relations Council and how the Jewish community can more fully embrace its diversity. Can you describe your […]
Love and acceptance were the day’s watchwords at JQ’s Trans Equality Brunch in Los Angeles; Caro Barkowitz calls for making congregations or Jewish communities trans friendly all year long. For most, the experience of growing up as the Jewish child of a transgender father is recognizable only as the plot of the television series “Transparent.” […]
The Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly (GA) in Washington, D.C. is an annual conference of thousands of North American federation leaders, Jewish philanthropists, agencies and Jewish organizations like Keshet. Attendees travel to the GA to meet, learn, and work together in support of the Jewish community. This year, speakers include the Honorable Ruth […]
An Orthodox rabbi whose child is transgender expresses his intention that by expanding Torah thoughts we can get closer to understanding how big and inclusive the Torah really is. I’m writing this as the father of a transgender child, who feels constricted in a space too narrow to accept my child and so many of God’s […]
After their child came out to them, Britt Rubenstein and her husband penned a “coming out” letter to their family, friends, colleagues, congregants, and neighbors as parents of transgender child There it sat and it had sat for a very long time. We felt exhausted, vulnerable, and full of anxiety. Writing and sending a “coming […]
“Raise up your voice as we sound the shofar. Come out for justice. Come out for safety. Come out for an end to transphobic violence. Come out for a world in which all of us live lives of dignity, safety, and opportunity.” We mark time, Jewishly, through the cycle of the Jewish calendar and holidays. […]
Dave Miller, Director of Community Engagement at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Mississippi, recalls what it was like for him as a gay Jewish man, moving to the south Over the course of the next few weeks, I’m going to share a series of posts about my reflection on “becoming Southern […]