Someone from my shul recently asked me where I felt like I truly belonged, and I realized I had never felt that way at our shul. The first time I ever truly felt like I truly belonged was at the Keshet Shabbaton for LGBTQ+ Jews of Color, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I get teary-eyed just remembering Friday night. After we lit the candles, someone started spontaneously singing shalom aleichem, and we all joined in together as a group. I got chills. It’s sometimes hard to reconcile the parts of myself that I see as conflicting, but at the Shabbaton, I was just mind-blown. We were all existing together in that space without having to explain our existence or presence. It was pure, unfiltered joy.
Someone from my shul recently asked me where I felt like I truly belonged, and I realized I had never felt that way at our shul. The first time I ever truly felt like I truly belonged was at the Keshet Shabbaton for LGBTQ+ Jews of Color, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I get teary-eyed just remembering Friday night. After we lit the candles, someone started spontaneously singing shalom aleichem, and we all joined in together as a group. I got chills. It’s sometimes hard to reconcile the parts of myself that I see as conflicting, but at the Shabbaton, I was just mind-blown. We were all existing together in that space without having to explain our existence or presence. It was pure, unfiltered joy.
Emet Marwell, Keshet Neshamot/Rainbow Souls Shabbaton Participant, Massachusetts