Visit Keshet’s High Holidays 5783 / 2022 Resource Page

Dear Friends,

We enter the Jewish New Year 5783 at a time when our communities are at once thriving and yet under attack.

On Rosh Hashanah, the shofar’s blasts call us to collective attention. One rabbinic interpretation is that they represent the cries of a mother for her child, expressing the heartache of Sarah as she awaits the sacrifice of her son Isaac. Sarah’s heartrending sobs are said to fill the entire universe. The shofar’s blasts jar us into hearing the cries of all who fear for their safety — and for their loved ones. This year, we urge you to hear the shofar as a call to fight for a future where all LGBTQ Jews can live in dignity.

Together, we raise our collective voices for equality.
Please consider a gift to Keshet today.

Every day, we see threats to the basic rights of LGBTQ community members – particularly trans and nonbinary young people. Already this year, elected officials have proposed more than 300 anti-LGBTQ bills and policies in 38 states. Your support for Keshet connects American Jews across the country to the fight for LGBTQ equality and justice. This summer, Keshet and over 170 partner organizations launched Thrive: the Jewish Coalition to Defend Trans and LGBQ+ Youth. Jacob Solomon (he/him), President & CEO of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, shared:

“We are deeply proud of our relationship with Keshet. Diversity and inclusion are values that we embrace as a Federation, both because they are based on the premise that we are all created in G-d’s image and also because we are incomplete as a Jewish community without the active engagement of ALL parts of that community. Through their advocacy, their consultation, and their programs, Keshet helps us become a better – and stronger – version of the Jewish community we strive to become.

Together, we ensure that LGBTQ Jews are fully seen in our communities.
Please invest in Keshet today.

Just this year, Keshet has trained more than 5,600 staff members at Jewish schools, camps, synagogues, and other institutions that collectively serve over 2 million people. Your support for Keshet helps Jewish leaders and institutions embrace their LGBTQ community members. When Jessica Landau (she/her), a teacher at the Jewish Academy of Orlando, first found out about Keshet’s training at her school, she was a bit nervous. Some of her colleagues did not know her sexual orientation:

“The Keshet training allowed me to feel comfortable enough to open up about my life personally and share challenges I have faced while teaching. Afterward, many colleagues approached me and shared how supportive they are. This meant so much because I have always been so cautious. I never know how people will react when they find out I’m engaged to a woman.”

Together, we empower LGBTQ+ Jewish youth to feel safe and thrive.
Please donate generously to Keshet today.

The Keshet Shabbaton weekend retreats – now in their tenth year – are uniquely powerful spaces where young LGBTQ+ Jews and allies can let down their guard, have fun, and be joyful together. A teen Shabbaton participant (they/xe) from Iowa shared how Keshet made it possible for them to be both Jewish and queer in one space:

“I feel like generally Jewish spaces are still unaccepting of queerness, and queer spaces can be unaccepting of Jewishness. So you never truly get a rest, because you are on the lookout for homophobia or antisemitism either way. But I felt like at the Keshet Shabbaton I could finally rest.”

Thank you for being part of the Keshet community. This High Holiday season, let us be moved by the shofar’s cries of pain to fill the entire universe with our love and our commitment to justice.

L’Shalom,

Idit Klein
President & CEO
she/her/hers