As a high school student in Florida, I spent much of my time challenging administrators and founding my school’s Gay Straight Alliance. Safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students and allies were few and far between then, and they are far from guaranteed now. Yet many Jewish institutions across the country have embraced a clear charge: to cultivate communities where LGBTQ+ young people feel seen and safe. The 2005 film Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School played a significant role in creating that reality. 

Produced by Idit Klein, founding President & CEO of Keshet, and directed by Irena Fayngold, the film sparked hundreds of screenings nationwide, reached thousands of Jewish educators and leaders, and reshaped conversations about LGBTQ+ belonging in Jewish life. Hineini’s ripple effects are innumerable.

That impact was palpable at the film’s 20th anniversary celebration at Vilna Shul in Boston last month. Former students in the film, teachers, people who worked on the film, people who learned from it, all came together to rewatch and reflect. The stories and lessons they shared revealed a powerful legacy.

Dr. Susie Tanchel,current Vice President of Hebrew College and a former day school teacher featured in the film, said. “One lesson from Hineini is for adults to take kids seriously. To be open to what they are thinking about and feeling. To see their courage, to mirror it for them, and to be open to learning from them even when you are the adult.”

Liana Galper, current GSA co-chair at Gann Academy and Keshet youth leader, said: “Because of those who came before me, I inherited the GSA. When I showed up to Gann, I was not an anomaly. There was an understanding that we welcome our community members and seek ways to include them fully. Administrators and faculty have supported me when a comment gets made, invited me to share my experience in relation to Jewish text, to push the thinking of my peers. I have felt so much support.”

Idit Klein shared the lesson that she comes back to again and again: “You have to persist. Most of the time, it’s not going to be easy. Most of the time, you get a ‘no’ the first time, and then the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time. But maybe, after the seventh and eighth time, you get a ‘maybe.’ Then, after the tenth or eleventh time, you get a ‘yes.’” 

You too can mark this auspicious anniversary by watching the film—a moving story of belonging and persistence; of finding collaborators and strength along the way. It is truly a slice of history, of our history, within the canon of American Jewish life. And it still has so much to teach us in our current moment. 

Watch Hineini [59 minutes | free]

May we continue to heed its charge and build the Jewish community we all—especially young people—need.