For Transgender Jews, The Ritual Bath Is Fraught With Questions About Inclusion

by Lauren Markoe for The Jewish Week

Converting to Judaism about a year ago, a transgender man in Washington, D.C., asked his rabbi a pointed question about the last step in the process, which calls for dunking naked in a ritual bath.

Could he locate a transgender man to serve as the required witness for this immersion?

Dozens of Jewish leaders in the region, including Rabbi Laurie Green, got the email asking if they could produce such a witness, who, according to Jewish law, would have to be Jewish.

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What happened when an Orthodox Jewish congregation went to a gay bar to mourn Orlando

By Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld for The Washington Post

When our synagogue heard about the horrific tragedy that took place at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, it was at the same time that we were celebrating our festival of Shavuot, which celebrates God’s giving of the Torah.

As Orthodox Jews, we don’t travel or use the Internet on the Sabbath or on holidays, such as Shavuot. But on Sunday night, as we heard the news, I announced from the pulpit that as soon as the holiday ended at 9:17 p.m. Monday, we would travel from our synagogue in Northwest Washington to a gay bar as an act of solidarity.

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Israeli, Ethiopian and Gay

By Team Be'chol Lashon for MyJewishLearning.com

What does it mean to be young, Ethiopian, Israeli and gay? Recently to of the leaders of KALA an Israeli Ethiopian LGBT group dropped by the Be’chol Lashon offices to discuss their experiences and thoughts about identity. They were touring in the United States with A Wider Bridge to raise awareness of the unique challenges they face and their vision for the future. Sara, who works with a youth movement, is one of the founders of KALA. Liel works with the police and has been with KALA almost from its start two years ago.

BL: Tell us a little about yourselves and your backgrounds

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Orthodox parents of LGBT children seek communities that care

By A Mother for The Times of Israel   

When my husband and I married, neither of us fully appreciated the role community would play in our family’s life. It proved to be a most crucial component in creating and forging a Jewish household and in passing on our traditions. A life lived according to halachah (Jewish law), needs a community. In Orthodox families, kids grow up seeing themselves as part of a much larger whole.

As our children grew up, we were comfortably ensconced in our shul. Then, about 18 years ago, our younger daughter told me she was gay. She was in her last year of college and in a relationship with a young woman who was also from an observant home. Trembling in my arms, she begged me not to tell her father, and tearfully asked if I wanted her out of our home. She had packed her bags and was prepared to leave.

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Unique birthing course for LGBT community in Tel Aviv

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH for JPost.com

The course will be an inseparable part of the variety of services that the hospital offers to the residents of the area.

Lis Maternity Hospital, part of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, has launched a special childbirth course for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community. The “Mammi Lis Club” said the course will be held in the “intimate and supportive atmosphere” required by the community starting from the 30th week of pregnancy.

The unique course will consist of two sessions of fourand- a-half hours each. It will be taught by a trained midwife, Adi Ben-Moshe, and put emphasis on support for women and men as they undergo the process of pregnancy (the men through surrogates or others), delivery and parenting in a family setting that is not the traditional one, the hospital said.

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Get to Know Hovi Star

A Wider Bridge Staff

Israel’s 2016 Eurovision Song Contest delegate is Hovi Star, a flamboyant 29-year-old singer and reality idol. Star, whose real name is Hovev Sekulets, was voted to the top spot of the Rising Star television song contest, thereby winning the ticket to Eurovision.

Star first came to public attention when he took part in another televised song contest, Kochav Nolad (‘A Star is Born’), in 2009. He also does voice overs for cartoons. “Hovi star is a nickname I received from my friends, because I’m, like, a diva,” he told Israeli website NRG. “But I’m not really a diva, because there’s no such thing in Israel. There’s Shiri Maimon, and there’s Dana International, and that’s it. In Israel you don’t get to do things in a big way.”

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A Gender-bending, Observant Jewish Indie Rocker

Gabe Friedman For Haaretz.com

Ezra Furman has successfully developed his music career in recent years, something he thinks is closely linked to his greater comfort with his religious and gender identity.

Ezra Furman is an acclaimed indie rocker who, while hanging on his tour bus, has been known to lay tefillin.

Striking, too, is Furman’s typical getup: The singer and guitarist often eschews the standard millennial indie rocker uniform – skinny jeans, tight T-shirt – in favor of lipstick, pearl necklaces, colorful dresses and patterned baseball caps.

It’s safe to say the 29-year-old is probably the only publicly visible musician who navigates the worlds of both Orthodox Judaism and gender nonconformity. Though Furman doesn’t identify as strictly Orthodox, he observes Shabbat and reads the Torah portion on tour each week. Most notably, he no longer plays shows on Friday nights nor travels on Saturdays – prime times for working musicians.

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