The LGBT Religious Archives Network (LGBT-RAN) honors Shaun Jacob Halper with the 2009-10 LGBTReligious History Award. Halper’s paper, “Fashioning Gay Jewish Identity in Interwar Prague: The Case of Jií Langer (1894-1944),” was selected by the review jury to receive the award.

Halper is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at University of California Berkeley doing pioneering work in Jewish gay and lesbian history. His paper takes up the long-neglected life and work of a gay Hasid in interwar Prague, Jií Langer, who wrote on the problem of Judaism and homosexuality and articulated, as Shaun has argued, what may be one of the earliest cultural articulations of homosexual-Jewish consciousness and identity in the historical record.

The award will be presented to Halper at LGBT-RAN’s annual dinner on Saturday, May 8, 2010, at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. You can read the full announcement about Halper and the LGBT Religious History Award here.

Halper’s paper was selected by the jury from among eight papers submitted in this fifth year of the LGBT Religious History Award.  Click here for info about past honorees and guidelines for submissions for the 2010-11 Award.

In this week’s parashah, Va’yetze (Genesis/Bereshit28:10-32:3), the saga of Jacob continues. After fleeing from the anger of his brother, Esau, he finally arrives in the land of Haran, from where his ancestors came, and find Rebecca, his bride. Later on we also read that Esau marries from the daughters of Canaan and the daughters of Ishmael, his father Isaac’s “half brother.”

The primary narrative in the parashah focuses on Jacob, as he is the patriarch from whom our people take it’s name (once it is changed to Israel). The ancient rabbis demonize Esau for the most part, equating his name with the oppressive Roman empire. But in the Torah there is none of this demonization.

If we view all the characters in the Torah as representing a part of each of us, much as one might analyze a dream, we can see Esau as that within us which we feel the need to demonize, criticize and ostracize. Only by viewing this piece of us with equanimity and compassion can we walk on the path of oneness.

And so, through the original midrash that follows, I have tried to recover Esau as a patriarch and as part of myself, along with his brother and the other patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people.

This is a weekly Torah commentary (d’var torah) by Rabbi Steven P. Nathan. Ordained from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Steven is also a practioner and teacher of mindfulness meditation having studied with Sylvia Boorstein and Rabbis Sheila Peltz Weinberg and Jeffrey Roth at Elat Chayyim, the Jewish Spiritual Retreat Center. He is also a storyteller and graduate of the Institute for Contemporary Midrash, where he studied midrashic storytelling with master storyteller Peninnah Schram. He currently serves as the campus rabbi at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Israel’s LGBT Tourism Conference Met with Protest
Tel Aviv, Israel, October 11th

On Sunday afternoon local Palestinian and Jewish LGBT\queer activists held a protest against promoting LGBT tourism to Israel in front of the Tel Aviv gay center. The protesters intercepted a group of travel agents and other guests attending a conference that took place inside the gay center. The conference was organized by various Israeli institutes and International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA).
While entering, the guests went by the protesters, who were wearing T-shirts that read “QUEERS VISIT PALESTINE, NOT THE OCCUPIERS & OPPRESSORS”. Some of the protesters faces were covered with dirt, contrasting the concept of a “tourist attraction,” putting themselves on display, not as shining examples of gay Israeli privilege but as wounded dirty queers, embodying the ugly side of the occupation being masked by the gay tourism initiative.
Quotes
Haneen, one of the protesters said: “These conferences are trying to create an aesthetic facade that everything is rosy, when minutes from here there is poverty, exploitation, discrimination and occupation. We are against an event that bluntly deny and hide the dirt of our realities. It is our duty as queers not to overlook the oppression of others and to engage in their struggles”.
“At a time when Israel still holds Gaza under siege, controls, segregates and divides the West Bank - there is no place for a ‘business as usual’ attitude”, added Ayala Shani.
Yosef/a Mekyton: “Portraying Tel Aviv as safe and tolerant for LGBTQ people is done also by silencing the daily violence we experience in this city and strive to oppose”.

   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 7, 2009

  Contact: Jay Michaelson:jay@nehirim.org • www.nehirim.org

Statement of Leaders of LGBT Jewish Synagogues & Organizations
in Response to the Attack on the LGBT Youth Center in Tel Aviv on August 1, 2009

On behalf of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) synagogues and Jewish organizations, we wish to express our deep sadness, outrage, and commitment in the wake of the horrible attack on the “Bar No’ar” LGBT youth drop-in center last week in Tel Aviv.

We are first and foremost saddened by this terrible attack on innocent young people, in a place devoted to their safety and security.  Our prayers are with the families of Nir Katz z”l, 26, and Liz Trobishi z”l, 16, as well as with the many now recovering from their injuries in Israeli hospitals.  This pigu’a — this terrorist attack — was against all of us, Jewish and non-Jewish, straight and gay, who cherish the values of diversity, democracy, and pluralism.  But we in the LGBT Jewish community feel this pain especially, for we know that it was an attack on us specifically as well, and that it could have been any of our organizations, any of our members, supporters, or loved ones, who were targeted.

We are also outraged.  While we do not yet know the identity or motivations behind this attack, we do know that it occurred in the context of months — indeed, years — of vitriolic, incendiary rhetoric directed against the LGBT community in Israel.  Tragically, some of the harshest words against us were spoken by some of our Jewish spiritual leaders.  Whether these words motivated a hate crime, or whether they motivated an act of self-hatred or personal hatred, we know from experience that racist, sexist, or homophobic speech begets racist, sexist, or homophobic violence.  We therefore condemn not only the attack itself but also the climate of hatred that some political and religious leaders helped create. 

Yet we are also committed: committed to a just society, to dialogue with those with whom we disagree, and to the right of everyone to act in the image of God and love one another.  We will not stop or slow our advocacy for full legal equality, in the United States and Israel, for LGBT people.  We will not be deterred from building support
groups and safe spaces, congregations and community centers, social programs and spiritual havens, of the very type that was attacked last week.  And most of all, we will not allow this attack to strip us of our humanity, and our capacity to love.  We know that it is love that matters, not the gender or sex of one’s beloved, and we know that our tradition teaches us the innate humanity of every person, a Divine quality most visible in our capacity to love.

At this time of mourning, we affirm all of these — our sadness, our outrage, and our commitment — and stand with Israel’s people and its government as it works to bring the perpetrator of this crime to justice.  The blood of the victims cries out from the Earth, mixes with the salt of our tears, and inspires us to pursue justice, seek the holy, and walk in the pathways of love.

Signed,

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, New York, NY
Jay Michaelson, Nehirim: GLBT Jewish Culture & Spirituality
Rabbi Joshua Lesser, Congregation Bet Haverim
Rabbi Lisa Edwards, Congregation Beth Chayim Chadashim, Los Angeles, CA
Congregation Etz Chaim, Wilton Manors, FL
Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Congregation Kol Ami, West Hollywood, CA
Rabbi Lawrence Edwards, Congregation Or Chadash, Chicago, IL
Rabbi Camille Shira Angel, Congregation Shaar Zahav, San Francisco, CA
Joel Kushner, Institute for Judaism and Sexual Orientation, Hebrew Union      College     Jewish Institute of Religion
Gregg Drinkwater, Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity
Seth Krosner, J*Pride of San Diego, San Diego, CA
Asher Gellis, JQ International
JQYouth
Keshet
Nicole Nussbaum, Kulanu, Toronto, Ontario
LGBT Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay and the LGBT Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the     Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.
Rebecca Wax, The Rainbow Center, Atlanta, GA
Rabbi Benay Lappe, SVARA, Chicago, IL
Howard Solomon, World Congress of GLBT Jews

CONTACT:        Jay Michaelson, Executive Director
            917.974.9815
            jay@nehirim.org

To donate to Israeli gay youth organizations, please visit http://www.jewishmosaic.org/page/load_page/172

Judaism & Homophobia: In Memory of Nir Katz & Liz Trobishi- זכרונם לברכם

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

2 killed in Tel Aviv shooting
GLBT activist says shooting that killed 2, wounded 10 at gay community meeting place in central Tel Aviv was ‘deliberate act against gay community’

From JQYouth in New York:
We are saddened to report that yesterday a lone gunman entered a support group for gay youth in Tel-Aviv and opened fire, killing 3 people and injuring more than a dozen more, most of whom were in their teens, closeted, and seeking support. In light of this tragic event, Mt. Sinai Jewish Center (an Orthodox Synagogue in Washington Heights) will be reciting Tehillim tomorrow (Monday) for those who were killed or hurt in the attack following their Mincha/Ma’ariv services. They are located at:

Mount Sinai Jewish Center
135 Bennett Avenue
New York, NY 10040

Tehillim will take place tomorrow, Monday August 2nd, at 8:30pm

http://www.mtsinaishul.com/

As a support group for gay Jewish youth, it is incredibly important that members of JQYouth show solidarity with the victims of this vicious attack and their families and friends and try to attend this event. It could have just as easily been JQY that was attacked, and if we don’t speak out against this incident, next time it very well may be! We are also working on developing an additional community wide tehillim recital and rally in support of gay Jewish support groups later this week, and will send out the details for that event as soon as we have them.

Hopefully in the wake of this tragedy all Jews, straight and gay, will come together to combat the homophobia responsible for such senseless violence.

Much Love,
-Erez

Distress and Despair in the Streets of Iran today:
Open letter By the Network of Homosexual University Students of Iran

To The International Community

The painful incidents of the past few days reached their peak today. On Saturday June 20, the Islamic regime carried its violations of human rights of the past 30 years, further. The People’s desire to choose their government peacefully in a fair election was frustrated by the Regime and the Supreme Leader with deception and imposition of force. This led to a silent protest after the election results shocked the whole country. In the streets of Tehran, miles and miles of tolerant, calm, and resolved masses, about 3 million strong, confronted the rigged election. This peaceful yet determined protest was met with brutal force by the regime’s strongmen, shooting from rooftops and windows.

What the People of Iran want is democracy and free elections even if these are secured within the framework of an Islamic Republic. But apparently, an Islamic Republic is unlikely to give way to democracy. Reports of the dead and wounded in last week’s attacks on civilians vary, but facts are available through eyewitness accounts, images captured on cell phones and cameras, and messages typed online. Most significant is not our numbers, but the fact that we are being shot down in the streets in front of everyone, or being cut open in the detention centers where the protesters are being taken. Video clips and photos displaying killing and wounding, slitting of throats or tearing of bodies require no captions.

Strongmen and military forces are attacking civilians, using all sorts of weapons from boiling water to bullets. The basij, plain-cloths cultural police recruited to enforce religious morality, are now attacking people in their homes at night.

The People are still calm and determined; they have vowed to take back their stolen votes and to stop the government’s fraud with their bodies. Since the Supreme Leader announced the election results a definitive victory this Friday and ordered the People off the streets, the demonstrations have been perceived as open war on the legitimacy of the Regime itself. Tehran was a bloodbath today. Other large cities report assaults and military attacks on civilians; there are many fatalities.

In the hands of the Government today, the citizenry’s lives are as subjected to horrible violence, as is their hope for democracy and a just society. Following the Islamic Regime’s crackdown on university dormitories on the first three nights, five student activists, Mobian Ehterami, Kasra Sharafi, Kambiz Sho’a'ee, Fatemeh Baratee, and Mohsen Eemani were killed. The rest of the students murdered and wounded have not yet been named. By now, all outside Iran have had a chance to see images of the People’s silent screams and the torn and bleeding bodies of the same protestors. Those who were arrested or kidnapped and released wrote accounts of the horrors they experienced. Still we fear the grave reality is not yet understood by outsiders.

We know that our realities can sound like passages from an Eastern tale. For this reason, queer students in Iran feel compelled to tell of these tragic measures to the world and to stand witness. As we mourn the loss of innocent protesters and worry about the fate and whereabouts of those who have been arrested and not yet released, we are proud of the patient, determined long lines of people displaying the most amazing face of a society which remains refined in the presence of utterly brutal circumstances. We are united in this and we are one voice demanding democracy. Those of us who are alive today live by chance. This calm and refined crowed is devastated and distressed today. We live in fear and we anticipate the worst.

If Ahmadinejad backed by the Supreme Leader managed a coup against the elected president of Iran Mir Hosein Musavi, and seeks to divert the course of democracy, our hope and our goal is to not allow this to happen. Now that the Assembly of Guardians has turned down the People’s demand for new elections, the fear is that if the protests are crushed, the regime will oppress individual freedoms and civil rights much more harshly than before. The Islamic Regime of Iran, with its history of human rights violations, suppression of minorities and targeting of homosexuality by threat of execution, has chosen to repress democratic aspirations and demolish civil institutions in order to further its control of People’s lives in a widespread, veiled brutality. This will culminate in the wounding of Iranian society as whole and from there it will compromise human rights symbols around the world.

The Homosexual community of Iran has been living under harsh conditions of harassment and fear. We identify with the pain the People endured this last week; those who fought back tears and kept calm under attacks and assaults in which silence was the most effective or only shield. These days, the Government is dismissing demands for justice, opening fire on people, and calling them ‘less then dust,’ ‘dirt,’ ‘dirty’ and ‘fags,’ eliciting years of dual oppression in the mind of homosexual community. Iranian queers have been struggling with the merciless oppressive Regime for years; we know very well what it means to endure cruelty. In recent days, the Islamic Regime has been treating people in the same way it has treated the queer community over the past three decades. It is with this understanding in mind and with a hope for a fair and free future based on equality that we fight side by side, hand in hand against the dictator. We urge the international LGBT community to hear our voice and hear the People of Iran in their demand for new elections. We ask the international LGBT community to assist us in alerting the world of the cruelties and the killings taking place in Iran during these days. We fear that in the days to come, if the dictator wins, a generation — our generation — will simply be eliminated.

These days, the queer movement of Iran is alongside the people’s movement. We are certain that the death of democracy in Iran will sooner or later mean the death of all humanity. We are certain that in the denial of civil and individual rights - as Ahamdinejad did in his first speech after his second round of his appointment to power, calling all protesters ‘thieves,’ ‘ruffians’, and ‘fags’ - all hopes for a civil society will be wiped out. Yet we live with the hope of rescuing Iran from the spread of fascism. On the fourth day of the Silent Resistance, one protester held a placard pronouncing: I’m not afraid of death, my fear is of life … three days has passed already. Equality, social justice, respect for different ethnicities, religions, languages, and sexual minorities are indeed possible, if people are not denied their rights within the framework of democracy.

We ask the international community, the international LGBT community, and human rights organizations or the world to be watchful of the atrocities in the streets of Iran today, to respect the Iranian people’s vote and their wish to live in a democratic society, and to refuse to recognise Ahmadinejad as Iran’s elected president until a new election is held in the presence of UN monitors. We ask the international community to support people of Iran through diplomatic pressure and UN intervention.

We ask the international community to stand by us and to urge governments to respect the Iranian People and their vote, to refuse to recognise Ahmadinejad as Iran’s president until we have the opportunity to elect our president with our own votes. What we want is a new election. The People are resolved to take back their vote. For the people of Iran, particularly for the queer community and all other minorities, this is the only possible way forward.

Today the Iranian People are relying on their own capacity to resist and assert their quest for justice. This will not happen without the support of the international community.

Praised be the day when Iran is responsive and responsible for all its children and citizens.

In the name of freedom and social justice,
Homosexual Students of Universities in Iran
June 20, 2009

marriage equality