‘Safe Spaces’ For Orthodox LGBTQ Students Spreads On Campus

Program that began at YU gets new grant and intercampus launch.

British, Jewish And Gay? Here’s Your Yenta.

Transgender rabbi lauds teen’s coming out as embodying Passover spirit

Pasadena's Becky Silverstein, an out trans rabbi, says Tom Chai Sosnik, 13, took the same kind of risk Israelites took when leaving Egypt.

An Open Letter from a Transgender Rabbi to Trans Teens Everywhere

Last week the story of Tom Chai Sosnik, a teenager who came out as transgender at Tehiyah Day School, his Jewish day school, made headlines. Inspired by Tom’s courage, and the need to support transgender and gender-expansive teenagers everywhere, Rabbi Becky Silverstein penned the open letter below to Tom and teenagers like him, which Jewish LGBT rights advocacy group Keshet proudly shared on Transgender Day of Visibility.

Philly day school bathroom seen as symbol of transgender inclusion

At most Jewish day schools, naming honors tend to be attached to grand spaces — auditoriums, prayer spaces, gymnasiums and the like. But at the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy, a pluralistic day school in suburban Philadelphia, Patrick Rock’s name will forever be associated with what might seem to be a rather ordinary space: a bathroom.

Purim’s Power: Despite the Consequences –The Jewish Push for LGBT Rights, Part 3

This Purim, I’m reminded of the power of coming out and speaking out, despite the consequences.

Queer Jewish Women Need to Create Their Own Spaces

I disagree with the idea that we need Jewish organizations to open the door to us.
We need to open our own doors.

Gender blender: Keshet’s Gender Schmear celebrates Purim

On February 26, Keshet, the San Francisco nonprofit that works for the full equality and inclusion of LGBT Jews in Jewish life, their friends, families, and allies, invites the community to attend Gender Shmear, Keshet's annual Purim celebration.

Maura Pfefferman and the Changing Face of Our Jewish Community

12 years ago, I was invited to the Jewish federations' national Young Leadership Division (YLD) conference to participate in a session called "Alternative Faces of Judaism." I was representing Keshet, the LGBT Jewish inclusion organization I lead, and I opened my remarks with what I thought was a witty observation: "I did my best to find an alternative face to put on before leaving my hotel room this morning."

Idit Klein honored at Chai in the Hub

Idit Klein, Executive Director of Keshet, was honored as one of 18 leaders in the Jewish community at at Chai in the Hub on Saturday, January 31.

2015’s Top Ten Social Justice Haggadahs & Supplements

“Turn and turn it, for everything is within it,” is a Talmudic saying that is ever-true about the annual crop of social justice-themed haggadot, supplements, and inserts for your Pesach seder. (See our picks from 2014 too.) This year’s newcomers include JFREJ’s #BlackLivesMatter haggadah, one for a socially responsible cocoa, Bend the Arc’s 50th anniversary of Selma, and another about the Palestinian Nakba.

Whole Self Movement

Brook Wilensky-Lanford interviews Rabbi Becky Silverstein: the transgender rabbi on religious rituals, gender fluidity, and the language of LGBTQ inclusion.

Keshet hosts first-ever LGBT awards event

The Bay Area's LGBT Jewish community will honor three outstanding leaders for their contributions to the community at the inaugural Glimmer gala this weekend.

LGBTQs to Celebrate Holidays with Accepting, Inclusive Religious & Spiritual Orgs. in New England

The New England area offers many progressive Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other groups of various denominations who are dedicated to inclusion of LGBTQ people, as well as those that are explicitly run by and for LGBTQ folks and allies.

Observing Transgender Day of Remembrance in the Jewish Community

When I was growing up, as a little girl in the Orthodox Jewish community, I would stare longingly over the mechitza (the dividing wall between men and women in the synagogue), feeling betrayed by God for giving me a body that didn't feel congruent with my soul. I never imagined that one day I would feel right in my body, accepted in my community, and able to walk freely in the world as a Jewish man.

New director named for Keshet Bay Area

LGBT Jews in the San Francisco Bay Area have a new addition to their leadership ranks with Rebecca Cariati, who recently stepped into the role as regional director of Keshet.

Supporting the growth of LGBTQ Jewish leadership: Guest Opinion

Despite boasting large Jewish and LGBTQ populations, the Bay Area has so far failed to produce many out-and-proud leaders who successfully straddle both communities. This is a shame, as each community would benefit from the integration of the other into its leadership and professional base.

Mother honors her slain son with activism in the LGBTQ community

Ayala Katz will speak Sept. 3 at Boston temple.

First-Of-Its-Kind LGBT Jewish Curriculum

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Institute for Welcoming Resources, Keshet, COLAGE and Family Equity Council released a curriculum designed to help Jewish congregations support and embrace LGBT members of their families.

Keshet Awarded $250,000 for Inclusion Training

Keshet, a national grassroots organization that works for the full equality and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Jews in Jewish life, has been awarded $250,000 by the Jim Joseph Foundation.