Every year at Kol Nidre at CBST I watch literally thousands of people stream in for Erev Yom Kippur services and say to whoever is standing next to me “What a shame we can’t eat or socialize, cause this would be a great night to have a singles event after services!” Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews come out of the woodwork and pack the Jacob Javits center to start they’re annual day of repentance.

Well, along comes Jayson Littman and He’Bro to solve this little dilema. This year Jayson is putting on “High HomoHolidays: Pray. Repent. Party.” at Slate in Chelsea. This is an unusual event to have during the Days of Awe, but I suppose there is something to be said for bring all those Jews together connected to the holidays in some way. Personally, I think it’s great.

Jayson and his project He’Bro have a history of extremely successful events and his email list is the envy of organizations local to NY who want to get to the young LGBTQ Jewish crowd. (Every meeting I’ve had in which an event is planned and Jayson is in the room has someone asking if he would send something out to his list.)

Have you been to one of his events?
Do you have thoughts about this High HomoDays party?

Dr. Zvi Bellin, the young and wise teacher, probably known by most for his teaching and work at Nehirim programs, is offering a teleclass this fall on Queer PsychoSpiritual Tele-Midrash.

Here’s how his site describes it:

Engage in an intimate community experience that fosters personal growth on your life path. Encounter sacred Hebrew texts with depth and reflection to learn about yourself, your world, and your relationship with the Divine. The tele-midrash will meet via conference call twice a month to review and discuss a pre-determined text. In addition to the full community call, participants will be paired into spirit buddies to learn together via specified guiding questions that relate to the texts. Participants will also be offered a one-on-one session with the tele-midrash facilitator to help tailor the program to their individual needs.

There are only ten spots and I imagine with his network and reputation they’ll fill up quickly. But go check it out and maybe you can get in on the phone action. You know you want to!

If you’ve taken a class with Zvi in person or on the phone let us know what you thought in the comments…

Full info is on his site at http://www.meaningthroughbeing.com/2010/07/fall2010-queer-telemidrash/

First, a bit of housekeeping (can you tell I’m in conference mode?) As promised we’re blogging on Forward.com. The first post is Queer Jews Convene in Berkeley.

Also, participants here are tweeting, and it’s been great. Head over to twitter.com/gaygevalt to follow our new twitter account, and also set your twitter to search for the hashtag #jqm to follow and join the conversation. Many people that are important to the LGBTQ Jewish movement aren’t here so, please join in the conversation in the comments here, on twitter, and at the Forward.

I sat down to write this post simply to record this: there is actual work happening here and that is a unique and great thing. The discussions are serious, the mood convivial, and the collaboration real. The idea of creating or defining a movement is lofty to say the least, and may even strike some as a bit arrogant. But there has been an LGBTQ Jewish movement for some time now, and these meetings are helpful and productive.

We’re in the middle of a SWOT exercise. We’re identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

What would be on your list of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats? Put em in the comments.

I’m at the Jewish LGBT movement buiding retreat, a program put together for representatives of most of the LGBT Jewish organizations and programs out there (in the US) to explore the movement that is, and that could be.

I’m here representing GayGevalt.com of course, but also Congregation Beth Simchat Torah (cbst.org) and the LGBT Religious Archives Network (lgbtran.org).

And for the first time, I’ll be blogging about the retreat at The Jewish Daily Forward! (blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze) As well as tweeting at our brand spanking new (we don’t even have any followers yet) twitter account (twitter.com/gaygevalt). Go follow us there!

Dear all (Dutch text below),

Spread the word:

In the weekend of the 18 - 20 December a group of Jewish LGBTQ people from London (age 20-40) will come to Amsterdam to celebrate shabbat and have great fun!

In doing this, they would like to invite gay Jews from other countries. You (or your friends)!

Are you interested in being part of this weekend (or a part of it, like: Candlelight kosher dinner on Friday Night, Shabbat celebration, clubbing, lectures, staying over in the hotel), please email Alan Aziz at alan@brijnet.org. He will give you more details about the program and costs. Attached the English invitation.

Hope to see you there!

–
Beste allemaal,

In het weekend van 18 t/m 20 december komt er een groep Joodse homo’s en lesbiennes (leeftijd tussen de 20 en 40, als ik het goed begrijp) van Londen naar Amsterdam. Zij zullen hier shabbat vieren en de stad onveilig maken. Om dit zo goed mogelijk te doen, zijn ze op zoek naar gelijkgestemden uit Europa, Israel en Amerika, jullie dus!

Bij deze, attached, de Engelse aankondiging voor het weekend. Ben je geinteresseerd in het bijwonen van dit hele weekend, of een onderdeel daarvan (shabbatviering, diner, uitgaan, hotelovernachting, museumbezoek), email dan organisator Alan Aziz op alan@brijnet.org
Hij kan je verdere details en prijzen geven.

Groeten,

*´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´

Gideon Querido van Frank

Dear friends-

I’m writing to invite you to join me on one or both unique tours I’ve planned for May 2010:  A Jewish tour of Tunisia and a culinary tour of Israel.  I’ve attached a pdf of the brochure for the tours and you can also click here to learn more online.  Whether or not you can join me I hope you’ll pass along this email to friends or colleagues of yours who might be interested.

We’re going to Tunisia to see the country generally and learn about the 2000-year-old Jewish community.  We picked May in order to witness and participate in the unusual Lag B’Omer celebrations on the Tunisian island of Djerba.  Among the Jews of North Africa, particularly Tunisia, Lag B’Omer is a time to pay homage to prominent Jewish scholars in North African Jewish history and a festival with some 4,000 Jews from Tunisia, France, Israel and elsewhere marks the occasion.  Tunisia and its Jewish Communities: Past and Present is a six-night tour of Tunisia with general and Jewish site visits, including the unique Lag B’Omer celebrations.

If you’re a foodie, interested in an extraordinarily unique tour of Israel, or both, Sip, Savor and Celebrate: A Culinary Adventure in Israel, a four-night tour, is for you. Gil Hovav, leading Israeli culinary journalist and television personality, has planned an exclusive itinerary that’ll have your five senses working overtime. See, hear, touch, smell and, of course, taste your way through the incredible ethnic diversity of Israeli cuisine. Gil will be our guide and several BGU faculty members will join the tour to share their culinary-related research.

I’ve just come back from Tunisia and Israel doing some prep work for the tours and am incredibly excited for the adventures that await.  I hope you can join me and encourage others to do so.

With warm regards,
Gabe Most

P.S.  The hotels and domestic airline in Tunisia are holding our group reservations until mid-December.  We’ll of course be taking registrations afterwards, but it’ll be a on a space-available basis, so we’re encouraging people to sign up sooner than later.

_____________________________________
Gabe Most
Director of Programs and Special Events
American Associates
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU)
1430 Broadway, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10018
212-687-7721 x109
gmost@aabgu.org
www.aabgu.org

This is an email from Nehirim.  It covers it all very well so rather than rewrite all the info, here’s a good solid update on what’s happening:

Shalom Nehirim -

As I’m sure all of you know by now, our community was again the victim of a violent attack, again in Israel, and again in the context of incendiary rhetoric and expressions of intolerance, particularly from religious leaders.

So, how are you responding? How are you feeling? What are you thinking?

Personally, I hope that you are finding time and space in your heart to commemorate this tragedy in your home communities — perhaps by reciting Tehilim, perhaps by attending a vigil or memorial service, or perhaps simply by connecting with your friends and family.

Now is also a crucial time to reconnect with your Nehirim community. I want to encourage you to reach out, either to Nehirim staff or faculty, or to friends or acquaintances you made at a Nehirim retreat. There’s no need to be dramatic; just check in — just say hello. When we are targeted by hate, the best response is more love, which is the source of strength and of healing.

In addition, Nehirim is cosponsoring a New York community-wide vigil taking place tomorrow (Wednesday) night.nbsp; Here is the information for that vigil:

Community-Wide Prayer Vigil for the Victims of the Attack on Tel Aviv Gay Youth

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, 57 Bethune Street, New York, NY

Last Saturday night, an unknown assailant opened fire on a meeting of a gay and lesbian youth group in Tel Aviv, killing three people and injuring fifteen. This Wednesday, New York responds. Please join us for a community-wide memorial service as we stand in solidarity with the victims of this vicious attack and demand equality for LGBT people everywhere. Speakers include Congressman Jerrold Nadler, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Nehirim director Jay Michaelson, and others. The service will also include the traditional reading of tehillim (psalms) and a candlelight vigil. Sponsors (still in formation) include Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, the New Israel Fund, Nehirim: GLBT Jewish Culture & Spirituality, JQYouth, the JCC in Manhattan, and Keshet.

—

Other vigils have taken place around the country, with Nehirim’s involvement.;

Tomorrow night, in Boston, please join the Greater Boston Jewish Community tomorrow -  Wednesday, August 5th  - as we mourn for the victims, pray for the injured, and express our outrage.
 
We will gather at Temple Israel of Boston, 77 Longwood Avenue (on the steps of the Riverway)
Wednesday, August 5, 6:30 pm, rain or or shine
For updates: www.keshetonline.org.

—

Last night, vigils took place in Washington, D.C., co-coordinated by Nehirim’s Engagement Officer, Zvi Bellin, and in San Francisco, by our partners at the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco. Here are media reports:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1249275684243&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1105154.html

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/08/04/1007018/dc-san-francisco-hold-vigils-to-mourn-israelis-lgbt-kilings

http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=26596

More events are also scheduled for Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Please join us at CBST or in Boston tomorrow night — we look forward to having a strong Nehirim contingent at each event.

In the meantime, our lives go on. At Nehirim, Queer Shabbaton registration is now open, and you can take advantage of early bird registration by clicking here. In addition, we’ve got a nice minyan of people for our informal East Coast camping trip, taking place August 14-16. Details are below, and the signup is on Facebook. Please RSVP right away if you’d like to come, as we’ll be buying food soon. Finally, Nehirim is cosponsoring Easton Mountain’s “Gay Spirit Camp” program August 17-23, and those under 30 can attend for only $100 for the entire week; see below for details. (Please also note that the remainder of this email was composed prior to Saturday night’s events.)

I look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow night at CBST, and, of course, all our prayers are with the injured — may they have a speedy recovery.

Jay Michaelson
Executive Director

Nehirim just sent out a newsletter with info on a slew of upcoming events.  You’ll be seeing more info on the Calendar.

Register Now for Nehirim’s First Annual Women’s Retreat.  Slated for March 20-22, 2009 at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, the Women’s Retreat welcomes all self-identified women to build a vibrant, diverse community in a beautiful natural setting.  Also, children’s programming will be available, so bring along those smaller members of the family.

Also, Super-Early Bird Registration is now open for this year’s Nehirim West and Nehirim East retreats.  Register by March 1 (by clicking here for Nehirim West and here for Nehirim East) to get a double discount!  Nehirim West will be held at Walker Creek Ranch, in Petaluma, CA, on May 8-10, 2009.  Nehirim East will take place at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, on May 15-17, 2009.

We also have some exciting upcoming local events in the New York City metro area:
We hope to see you at Ma’agal, our monthly Nehirim women’s group, facilitated by Chani Getter, or at Social Networking for Couples, Parents, & Prospective Parents, an event for LGBT Jews who are considering marriage, parenting, and other forms of family-building, run by Marlene Rachelle, whom you may have met at Queer Shabbaton New York or the Nehirim Gathering.

nehirim, gay, jewish, events

Visit http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/

Protests are happening around the country tomorrow.  This is important.  Be a part of it.  Use the above link to get more info for your area.

Together we can secure our rights and gain equality!

Visit http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/

Stand Up.  Fight for your Rights.  The measure may have passed, but it’s the wrong change in state law.  Good must prevail and the promise of equality restored.

Here’s a list of protest happening this weekend in California care of Towleroad.com