Torah Queeries

Explore creative and incisive queer takes on Torah portions and Jewish holidays, written by dynamic scholars, rabbis, activists, and lay leaders.

Featured Resources

Holiday: Counting the Omer Counting My Genders: A Neo-Kabbalistic View of the Omer by Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman on Thursday April 24, 2008 22 Iyyar, 5766 Leviticus 23:15-16, Counting the…

Parashat Tsav ‘It must not go out’ by Amy Soule on Saturday March 19, 2011 13 Adar II 5711 Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36   The fire on the altar must…

Parashat Vaetchanan A Less Innocent Love by Jay Michaelson on Saturday August 05, 2006 11 Av 5766 Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11, Shabbat Nachamu A tension: We are commanded, in Parashat Vaetchanan, to…

Parashat Terumah A Mandatory Donation by David Katzenelson on Friday February 19, 2010 5 Adar 5770 Exodus 25:1 – 27:19 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the Israelite people…

Parashat Pinchas A New Vision of the Scapegoat by Ri Turner on Friday July 18, 2008 15 Tammuz Numbers 25:10-30:1   When people write drashot about Parashat Pinchas, they often…

Parashat Beha’alotecha A Parade of Welcome by Rabbi James Greene on Friday May 28, 2010 15 Sivan 5770 Numbers 8:1 – 12:16 In this week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotecha, we read…

Parashat Korach A Revolution With Boundaries by Rebecca Weiner on Friday June 30, 2006 4 Tammuz, 5766 Number 16:1-18:32, Shabbat, 4 Tammuz, 5766 Looking back on my childhood, I often…

Parashat Vayera A Well in the Desert by David Katzenelson on Friday November 14, 2008 16 Cheshvan 5769 Genesis 18:1 – 22:24 They are at it again. Sarah and Hagar…

  Parashat B’reshit Affirming the Sanctity of Same-Sex Love by Gregg Drinkwater on Friday October 20, 2006 28 Tishrei 5767 Genesis 1:1 – 6:8, Shabbat Advocates for lesbian and gay…

Parashat Be’Ha’alotecha ‘Am‘ (Yisrael) Comin’ Out! I want the World To Know, Got to Let it Show by Karen Perolman on Friday June 13, 2008 10 Sivan 5768 Numbers 8:1…

Parashat Ki Teitze Amalek and The Good Soldier by Noach Dzmura on Friday September 12, 2008 12 Elul 5768 Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19 This Torah portion encompasses almost four chapters…

Parashat VaYikra “And God Called”: The Process is the Message by Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman on Saturday April 01, 2006 3 Nisan 5766 Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26,Shabbat, 3 Nisan  …

  Parashat Vayetzei And Jacob Came Out… by Maggid Jhos Singer on Sunday December 03, 2006 11 Kislev 5767 Genesis 28:10 – 32:3, Shabbat Do you remember the first moment…

Parashat Noach Apres le Deluge: Moi by Michael Sarid on Saturday October 28, 2006 6 Cheshvan 5767 Genesis 6:9 – 11:32, Shabbat Apres le Deluge: Moi Imagine that you are…

Parashat Vaera Are You a Good Witch or a Bad Witch?: Pharaoh, the Plagues, and His Mutinous Magicians by Marisa James on Friday January 23, 2009 27 Tevet 5769 Exodus…

Parashat Vayeshev Ba’al Ha’Chalomot: Keepers of the Dreams by Karen Erlichman on Thursday November 29, 2007 19 Kislev 5768 Genesis 37:1 – 40:23, Shabbat, 19 Kislev 5768 They saw him…

Parashat Balak Balak and Balaam: Language and Knowledge, Speech and Power by Jeremy Schwartz on Friday July 11, 2008 8 Tammuz 5768 Numbers 22:2 – 25:9   Parshat Balak is…

Parashat Vayechi Beyond Stick Figures by Rabbi Elliot Rose Kukla on Friday January 09, 2009 13 Tevet 5769 Genesis 47:28-50:26 [Reprint of Sermon on Parshat Va’yehi Delivered at the Danforth…

Parashat Ekev Bind These Words by Ari Lev Fornari on Friday August 11, 2006 17 Av 5766 Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25, Shabbat, 17 Av 5766 Chest Binder : an undergarment…

Parashat Vayishlach Brother’s keeper, take two… Esau and Forgiveness by Marisa James on Saturday December 09, 2006 18 Kislev 5767 Genesis 32:4 – 36:43, Shabbat The queer community is in…

Parashat Shoftim Building a Just Society by Rabbi Rick Brody on Saturday August 26, 2006 2 Elul 5766 Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9, Shabbat It is amazing how procrastination affects one’s…

Parashat Vayakhel and Parashat Pekudei Building God’s Beautiful Bayit; or, Queer Eye for the Desert Mishkan by Marisa James on Saturday March 17, 2007 27 Adar 5767 Exodus 35:1 –…

Parashat Vaetechanan But G-d Said No: Why Moses Couldn’t Enter the Promised Land, and What The LGBT Community Can Learn From It by Stephanie Silberstein on Friday July 23, 2010…

Parashat Chayei Sarah Camels and Consummation by Joy Ladin on Saturday November 22, 2008 23 Cheshvan 5769 Genesis 23.1-25.18 After burying his wife Sarah, the aged Abraham summons his servant…

Will you be chanting Hallel this Shabbos? Why recite Hallel? The Orthodox Union website describes Hallel as “six Psalms (113-118), which are said as a unit, on joyous occasions, when…

Holiday: Simchat Torah Circling Back by Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman on Sunday October 15, 2006 23 Tishrei 5767 Deuteronomy 33:1 – 34:12 & Numbers 29:35 – 30:1,Simchat Torah Wow! Here…

Parashat Chayei Sarah Claiming an Unworded, Yet Holy Union by Moshe Ben Chacon on Saturday November 18, 2006 27 Cheshvan 5767 Genesis 23:1 – 25:18, Shabbat In a Nutshell This…

Parashat Bo Come Out Come Out Wherever You Are by Amy Soule on Friday January 22, 2010 Shevat 7, 5770 Exodus 10:1 – 13:16 Milk may have been designed as…

Parashat Tazria Metzora Community and Solitude: Rethinking Clean and Unclean by Vanessa “Vinny” Prell on Friday April 16, 2010 2 Iyar Leviticus 12:1 – 13:59 and Leviticus 14:1 – 15:33…

Parashat Vaera Confronting Injustice: A Jewish Model for Trans Advocacy by Y. Gavriel A. Levi Ansara on Friday January 04, 2008 27 Tevet 5768 Exodus 6:2 – 9:35 Parashat Vaera…

Parashat Tazria and Parashat Metzora Created by the Hand of Heaven: A Jewish Approach to Intersexuality by Rabbi Elliot Rose Kukla and Reuben Zellman on Saturday April 21, 2007 3…

Parashat Ki Tisa Dancing at Sinai by Rabbi Jacob Staub on Saturday March 10, 2007 20 Adar 5767 Exodus 30:11 – 34:35, Shabbat I remember vividly the way, as a…

Holiday: Days of Awe Days of Awe(some) by Noach Dzmura on Friday October 03, 2008 4 Elul 5768 Days of Awe If ever there were a Jewish holiday custom-made to…

Parashat Vayishlach Deena Has Four Mommies: Tales of Co-parenting in TaNaCh by Miryam Kabakov on Saturday November 20, 2010 13 Kislev 5771 Genesis 32:4 – 36:43   Looking up, Jacob…

Parashat Emor Difference and the Service of the Lord by Amy Soule on Friday April 30, 2010 16 Iyar 5770 Leviticus 21:1 – 24:23 God said to Moses, Say to…

Parashat Shoftim Doubling the Weight of Our Words by Cantor David E. Reinwald on Friday August 21, 2009 1 Elul Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9 The only way I can describe…

Parashat B’reishit Du Partsufin: Introducing the Allgender Creation by Igael Gurin-Malous on Thursday October 04, 2007 22 Tishrei 5768 Genesis 1:1-6:8,Shabbat   You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign…

Yom Kippur Eighteen Twenty-two by Igael Gurin-Malous on Friday September 25, 2009 7 Tishrei 5770 Holiday, Yom Kippur Growing up I used to go to shul (synagogue) religiously, every Shabbat,…

Holiday: Rosh Hashanah Entering the Holy of Holies by Rabbi Joshua Lesser on Saturday September 23, 2006 1 Tishrei 5767 Genesis 21:1 – 21:34 & Numbers 29:1 – 29:6; Song…

Parashat Naso Embracing the LGBTQ Community by Rabbi David Lazar on Saturday May 26, 2007 9 Sivan 5767 Numbers 4:21 – 7:89, Shabbat May the Lord bless you and watch…

Parashat Aharei Mot and Parashat Kedoshim You Shall Be Holy   by Rabbi Steven Greenberg on Saturday May 06, 2006 8 Iyyar, 5766 Leviticus 16:1-20:27, Shabbat, 8 Iyyar The paired…

Parashat Vayishlach Ya’amdu… by Ari Lev Fornari on Saturday November 24, 2007 14 Kislev 5768 Genesis 32:4 – 36:43, Shabbat It was Simchat Torah 5767—mid-October 2006. Having spent the previous…

Every Body Worship Parashat Emor by Rabbi Joshua Lesser on Friday May 08, 2009 15 Iyar 5769 Leviticus 21:1-24:23 An Israeli friend of mine had a provocative part-time job as…

Parashat Lech Lecha Extinguishing the flames by David Katzenelson on Friday October 30, 2009 12 Heshvan Genesis 12:1 – 17:27 Our parasha starts with the first words G-d explicitly says…

Parashat Shelach Lecha Fear, Perception, and Imagination: Grasshoppers in Whose Eyes? by Jay Stanton on Friday June 20, 2008 17 Sivan 5768 Numbers 13:1 – 15:41 In the beginning of…

Parashat Bo FINAL CUT: Circumcising Egypt by Amichai Lau-Lavie on Saturday January 27, 2007 8 Sh’vat 5767 Exodus 10:1 – 13:16 This week’s Torah episode is called “Bo”, otherwise known…

Parashat Tetzaveh Finding the good side: A Portrait of the Priestly Class by Noach Dzmura on Friday March 06, 2009 10 Adar 5769 Exodus 27:20 – 30:10 Summary of the…

Parashat Ki Tavo Fine-Tune Your Spiritual Hearing by Maggid Jhos Singer on Friday September 08, 2006 15 Elul 5766 Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8, Shabbat This week’s Torah Portion, Ki Tavo,…

Parashat Ki Tavo Firsts in Liturgy by Noach Dzmura on Friday September 19, 2008 19 Elul 5768 Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8 Parashat Ki Tavo contains “the first full-fledged liturgy in…

Holiday Four Children, One Question, and Redemption by Marissa Elana James on Friday March 26, 2010 11 Nisan 5770 Holiday, Pesach 5770 “The Torah speaks of four children: one who…

Parashat Nitzavim and Parashat Vayeilech Four Gemstones: The gravity-well of a non-binary doorway made from cursed wormwood by Noach Dzmura on Friday September 15, 2006 22 Elul 5766 Deuteronomy 29:9…

Holiday: Tu B’Av “From The Look Of Love, From The Eyes Of Pride” by Chaim Moshe HaLevi (Marc Howard Landas) on Saturday August 16, 2008 15 Av 5768 Tu B’Av…

Parashat Chukat and Parashat Balak Gay Pride, Red Cows, and The Cleansing Power of Ritual by Dr. Caryn Aviv on Friday July 07, 2006 11 Tammuz, 5766 Numbers 19:1-25:9,Shabbat, 11…

Parashat Lech Lecha Go Forth to Celebrate Your Gay Family by Melissa B. Simon on Friday November 07, 2008 9 Cheshvan 5769 Genesis 12:1 – 17:27 The gay community, it…

Parashat Re’eh Going After the Unfamiliar by Rabbi Jacob J Staub on Friday August 29, 2008 28 Av 5768 Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17   Parashat Re’eh can be painful for…

Parashat Shemot Got MLK?: Mourning the Losses and Celebrating the Victories [1] by Chaim Moshe HaLevi (Marc Howard Landas) on Friday January 16, 2009 20 Tevet 5769 Exodus 1:1 –…

Parashat Behar and Parashat Bechukotai Granting Peace in Our Land: Observing our Greater Shabbatot by Marisa James on Thursday May 10, 2007 22 Iyyar 5767 Leviticus 25:1 – 27:34, Shabbat…

Holiday: Yom Kippur Harry Potter and the Rainbow Connection by Chaim Moshe HaLevi (Marc Howard Landas) on Friday October 10, 2008 11 Tishri 5769 Holiday: Yom Kippur Originally printed in…

Parashat Ki Tissa Hashem and Equity by J Simone Posner on Friday March 13, 2009 17 Adar 5769 Exodus 30:11-34:45 This week’s parsha covers a wide range of juicy topics…

Parashat Vayishlach “Hey Yaacov, Someone’s Calling your Name!” “If it isn’t Yisrael, I’m not Home.” by Zvi Bellin on Friday December 12, 2008 15 Kislev 5769 Genesis 32:4 – 36:43…

Parashat Miketz Hide and Thou Shalt Weep, Seek and Thou Shalt Find by Moshe Ben Chacon on Saturday December 23, 2006 2 Tevet 5767 Genesis 41:1 – 44:17, Hanukkah  …

Holiday: Purim High Healing: A Purim Message by Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross on Tuesday March 14, 2006 14 Adar, 5766 Book of Esther, Purim This morning, just after a fitting for…

Parashat Devarim History, Memory and the Making of Community by Dr. David Shneer on Friday July 28, 2006 4 Av, 5766 Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22, Shabbat Hazon, 5766   “Ale ha-devarim asher…

Parashat Vayikra Holding God Accountable for LGBT Marginalization by Noach Dzmura on Friday March 19, 2010 Nisan 4, 5770 Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26   In Parashat Vayikra, Moses begins to…

Parashat Mishpatim In What Will He Sleep? by Rabbi Laurence Edwards on Friday February 20, 2009 26 Shevat 5769 Exodus 21:1 – 24:18 Occasionally the Torah offers us moments of…

Parshat Yitro Interpreting G-d’s Approach at Sinai by Rabbi Robin Nafshi on Friday February 05, 2010 21 Shevat 5770 Exodus 18:1 – 20:23 In Parshat Yitro, the Israelites are preparing…

Parashat Vaera Into Life by Jay Michaelson on Saturday January 20, 2007 1 Sh’vat 5767 Exodus 6:2 – 9:35, Shabbat   The exodus from Egypt has symbolized the movement from…

Parashat Emor Irreconcilable Differences by Vanessa “Vinny” Prell on Friday May 09, 2008 4 Iyar 5768 Leviticus 21:1 – 24:23   Parshat Emor, though mysterious in its reasoning, seems clear…

Parashat Tazria and Parashat Metzora It’s the Purity, Stupid: Reading Leviticus in Context   by Jay Michaelson on Friday April 28, 2006 1 Iyyar, 5766 Leviticus 12:1-13:59,Rosh Chodesh Iyar  …

Parashat Vayeshev Joseph’s Fabulous Technicolor Dreamcoat   by Gregg Drinkwater on Saturday December 16, 2006 25 Kislev 5767 Genesis 37:1 – 40:23, Shabbat   A colleague recently told me about…

Parashat Acharei Mot Journeys with Acharei Mot by Lev Raphael on Friday May 01, 2009 7 Iyar 5769 Leviticus 16:1 – 18:30   I grew up in a very secular…

Parashat Lech Lecha Lech Lecha – Walk Towards Yourself by Reb Kaplan on Thursday October 18, 2007 6 Cheshvan 5768 Genesis 12:1 – 17:27, Shabbat   In this week’s Torah…

Holiday: Pesach Liberation and Transgender Jews by Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen Thursday April 13, 2006 15 Nisan, 5766 Exodus 12:21-51, Passover   We prepare for the holiday of Passover in…

Holiday: Passover Liberation from Passover by Jay Michaelson on Friday April 10, 2009 16 Nisan 5769 Passover   Isn’t it ironic? Passover, the holiday of freedom, is often spent in…

Parashat Vayeshev Lie With Me by Joseph Shapiro on Friday December 19, 2008 22 Kislev 5769 Genesis 37:1 – 40:23   Joseph’s looks and handsome figure Had attracted her attention…

Parashat Vayikra Live and Let Leviticus: A Call to Gay Men by Rabbi Joshua Lesser on Saturday March 24, 2007 4 Nisan 5767 Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26, Shabbat I remember…

Parashat Beshalach Love Beyond Possession by Tucker Lieberman on Friday February 06, 2009 12 Shevat 5769 Exodus 13:17 – 17:16   Parashat Beshalach illustrates an enduring love that overcomes a…

Parashat Eikev Love the Stranger by Igael Gurin-Malous on Friday August 07, 2009 17 Av 5769 Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25   Eikev; love is the big thing… Parashat Eikev is…

Parashat Vayechi May God Make You Like Ephraim and Manasseh by David Levy on Saturday December 22, 2007 13 Tevet 5768 Genesis 47:28 – 50:26 So [Jacob] blessed them that…

Parashat Be’Ha’alotekha Miriam: Speaking Truth to Power by Rachel Biale on Saturday June 02, 2007 16 Sivan 5767 Numbers 8:1–12:16, Shabbat   This week’s parasha contains perhaps the most audacious…

Parashat Korach Modern Midrash: Korach Retold by Noach Dzmura on Friday June 27, 2008 24 Sivan 5768 Numbers 16:1 – 18:32,PRIDE! Please note that there are TWO Torah Queeries this…

Please note that language used to describe the LGBTQ community and our experiences has rapidly evolved as LGBTQ lives and experiences have gained more visibility. This resource may contain language/content…

Please note that language used to describe the LGBTQ community and our experiences has rapidly evolved as LGBTQ lives and experiences have gained more visibility. This resource may contain language/content…

Please note that language used to describe the LGBTQ community and our experiences has rapidly evolved as LGBTQ lives and experiences have gained more visibility. This resource may contain language/content…

Please note that language used to describe the LGBTQ community and our experiences has rapidly evolved as LGBTQ lives and experiences have gained more visibility. This resource may contain language/content…

Please note that language used to describe the LGBTQ community and our experiences has rapidly evolved as LGBTQ lives and experiences have gained more visibility. This resource may contain language/content…

Parashat Nitzavim Nitzavim: A Memory (Reprint from 2007) by John E. Hirsch on Friday September 11, 2009 22 Elul 5769 Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20   I write this drash in…

Parashat Shemini No Sacrifice Needed: Modern Day Nadav and Avihu by Martin Rawlings-Fein on Saturday April 18, 2009 24 Nissan, 5769 Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47   In Parashat Shemini the…

Parashat Vayikra Not a Deathly Hallows: A Year of Queer Torah by Noach Dzmura on Friday March 27, 2009 2 Nisan 5769 Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26 Parashat Vayikra begins the…

Parashat Aharei Mot and Parashat Kedoshim On Gaining Access to the Holy by Rabbi David Greenstein on Saturday April 28, 2007 10 Iyyar 5767 Leviticus 16:1 – 20:27, Shabbat, 10…

Parashat Naso On the Thirteenth Day by Jo Hirschmann on Friday June 09, 2006 13 Sivan 5766 Numbers 4:21-7:89, Shabbat 13 Sivan 5766 At the opening of parashat Naso (Numbers…

Parashat Devarim Out from the Mountain: Finding the Good Land by Marisa James on Saturday July 21, 2007 6 Av, 5767 Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22,Shabbat And God said unto Moses:…

Parashat Devarim Out from the Mountain: Finding the Good Land by Marisa James on Saturday July 21, 2007 6 Av, 5767 Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22,Shabbat   And God said unto…

Parashat Chukkat Parashat Chukkat: Clean/Unclean by Rabbi Jill Hammer on Friday July 03, 2009 11 Tammuz, 5769 Numbers 19:1-22:1 The biblical categories tahor and tamei, usually translated “pure” and “impure,”…

Parashat Vayetzei Four Mothers, Four stories. Four legacies? by Karen Perolman on Friday December 05, 2008 8 Kislev 5769 Genesis 28:10-32:3     In this week’s parsha, Vayetzei, we meet…

Parshat Beshallach; Exodus 13:17-17:16 By Rabbi Denise Eger The Children of Israel are finally on their way out from Egypt and servitude and slavery with the arrival of this week’s…

Parashat Ki Tissa People of the Question by Cynthia Hoffman on Friday March 05, 2010 19 Adar Exodus 30:11-34:35 Judaism describes itself (in a quote from the Koran) as the…

Parashat Beha’alotcha Pesach Sheni and Gay Marriage? Amy Soule Saturday June 11, 2011 9 Sivan 5771 Numbers 8:1 – 12:16 Hearing Minnesota state Representative Steve Simon’s defense of gay marriage…

Holiday: Sukkot Q-Ushpizin by Chaim Moshe haLevi on Saturday October 07, 2006 15 Tishrei 5767 Zohar, Sukkot There’s a place for us/ Somewhere a place for us/ Peace and quiet…

Parashat Nitzavim Queer Authority by Amy Soule on Friday September 24, 2010 16 Tishrei 5771 Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20 Coming to Parashiyot Nitzavim and Vayeilech means we have almost come…

Parashat Naso Queer Nazir and the Twelve Identical Gifts by Darren Lipman on Friday May 22, 2009 28 Iyar 5769 Numbers 4:21-7:89 I first read Parashat Naso during my b’nei…

Parashat B’midbar “Queer” Tribes: Finding a Place for Alternative Families [REPRINT] by Gregg Drinkwater on Friday May 22, 2009 28 Iyar, 5769 Numbers 1:1-4:20 [This Torah Queery was originally published…

Parashat Korach Queering the Rebellion: Bringing in the Faith by Sasha T. Goldberg on Saturday June 16, 2007 30 Sivan 5767 Numbers 16:1 – 18:32,Shabbat We Jews, we wrestle. We…

Parashat Vayigash Reading Joseph by Rabbi Laurence Edwards on Friday December 25, 2009 8 Tevet 5770 Genesis 44:18 – 47:27 Delivered January 2, 2009 Or Chadash Typically, the Torah tells…

Parashat Shemot Rebellion and Liberation by Rabbi James Greene on Saturday December 25, 2010 18 Tevet 5771 Exodus 1:1 – 6:1 Parshat Shemot has always been one of my favorite…

Parshat Vayigash Redeeming a Holy Spark: Coming out of the darkness by Rabbi Rachel Gurevitz on Friday December 25, 2009 8 Tevet 5770 Genesis 44:18 – 47:27 We reach the…

Parashat Ki Tavo Reflecting on Ki Tavo by Karen Erlichman on Tuesday September 01, 2009 15 Elul 5769 Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8 Last week began the month of Elul in…

Parashat Shemini Reprint: the way of strange fire by Maggid Jhos Singer on Friday April 02, 2010 18 Nisan 5770 Leviticus 9:1-11:47 I love the Torah. I love its weird,…

Parashat Acharei Mot Returning to Mitzrayim by Rachel Barenblat on Saturday April 19, 2008 14 Nisan 5768 Leviticus 16:1 – 18:30, Pesach Baseball season recently started up again. For me,…

Parashat Mishpatim Revolution is the Easy Part by Kerrick Lucker on Friday February 01, 2008 26 Sh’vat 5768 Exodus 21:1 – 24:18 It’s one thing to break down barriers of…

Parashat Naso Sacred Spaces: The Tabernacle, Women’s Work, and the Body as Sanctuary by Ri Turner on Friday June 06, 2008 3 Sivan 5768 Numbers 4:21 – 7:89 In Numbers…

Parashat Shemot Saving Our Youth from the Crocodiles by Martin Rawlings-Fein on Friday January 08, 2010 Tevet 22 5770 Exodus 1:1 – 6:1 Shemot, or Names, is this weeks Parashat…

Holiday: Shavuot. Book of Ruth Shavuot: A Marginal Holiday by Rabbi Joshua Lesser on Friday June 02, 2006 6 Sivan, 5766 Book of Ruth, Shavuot Shavuot is one of the…

Parashat Vayera Sin of Sodom: Looking at a similar story in Judges 19 by Amy Soule on Saturday October 23, 2010 15 Cheshvan 5771 Genesis 18:1 – 22:24 Look at…

Parashat Be’Ha’alotekha Singing for Our Lives by Gregg Drinkwater on Friday June 16, 2006 20 Sivan 5766 Numbers 8:1-12:16, Shabbat I’ve always harbored a suspicion that Moses’ sister, the feminist…

Holiday: Yom Kippur. Book of Jonah Sinking into Compassion by Julia Watts Belser on Monday October 02, 2006 10 Tishrei 5767 Jonah 1:1-4:11, Yom Kippur If it takes holy chutzpah…

Parashat Bamidbar So Many Ways Not to be Counted by Abi Weissman on Friday May 14, 2010 1 Sivan 5770 Numbers 1:1 – 4:20 In Parashat Bamidbar, the different tribes…

Parashat Balak Something Queer in the Vineyards (Reprinted from 2007) by Andrew Ramer on Friday June 25, 2010 13 Tammuz 5770 Numbers 22:2 – 25:9 The American Heritage Dictionary says…

Parashat Matot and Parashat Masei Speaking Truth in This World by Rabbi Seth Goren on Friday August 01, 2008 1 Av 5768 [Reprint] Numbers 30:2 – 36:13 This essay was…

Holiday: Sukkot Sukkot: Celebrating Unity Through Diversity by Rabbi Andrew Sacks on Monday October 13, 2008 14 Tishri 5769 Holiday: Sukkot There are more spiritually resonant symbols associated with the…

Parashat Ekev Taking Steps by Amos Lassen on Thursday August 02, 2007 20 Av, 5767 Deuteronomy 7:12-11:15, Shabbat The book of Deuteronomy focuses on the time just before the death…

Parashat Kedoshim Textual Identity and the (Non)Genetic Code by Noach Dzmura on Friday May 02, 2008 28 Nisan, 5768 Leviticus 19:1 – 20:27 Kedoshim (The Holy) starts with the admonition,…

Parashat Miketz The Bumpy Road to High-Drama Holiness by Maggid Jhos Singer on Friday December 07, 2007 28 Kislev, 5768 Genesis 41:1 – 44:17,Hanukkah   While waiting on the schoolyard…

Parashat Ki Tavo The Deuteronomy Dinner Party – As Many Chairs as We Need by Marisa James on Friday August 31, 2007 17 Elul 5767 Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8,Shabbat This…

Parashat Va’etchanan The Fear of God and the Guru Principle by Ri J. Turner on Friday July 31, 2009 10 Av 5769 Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11   In this week’s…

Parashat Yitro The Fifth Commandment by David Katzenelson on Saturday February 14, 2009 19 Shevat 5769 Exodus 18:1 – 20:23 The Ten Commandments are repeated twice in the Torah, in…

Parashat Ekev The Former Rain and the Latter Rain: A Queer Jew in Diaspora Wrestling with Tradition and Progress by Ri J. Turner on Friday August 22, 2008 21 Av…

Parashat Terumah The Gift of Safe Space by Y. Gavriel A. Levi Ansara on Saturday February 24, 2007 6 Adar 5767 Exodus 25:1 – 27:19 Parashat Terumah opens with G-d…

Parashat B’midbar The Gift of the Wilderness by Alex Carter on Friday May 30, 2008 25 Iyar 5768 Numbers 1:1 – 4:20   This week’s parsha, B’midbar, begins, as many…

Parashat Korach The God of the Spirits of All Flesh by Rabbi Rick Brody on Friday June 11, 2010 29 Sivan 5770 Numbers 16:1 – 18:32   In the midst…

Parashat Kedoshim The Holiness Code by Amy Soule on Saturday April 30, 2011 26 Nisan 5711 Leviticus 19:1 – 20:27   According to the Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 24:5) Kedoshim, specifically…

Parashat Shof’tim The Holiness of Judgment and the Power of Witnessing by Karen Erlichman on Friday September 05, 2008 5 Elul 5768 [reprint] Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9   This Torah…

Parashat Noach The Language of Blessings by Marisa James on Friday October 31, 2008 2 Cheshvan, 5769 Genesis 6:9-11:32   Last month, I had the dubious honor of reading parashat…

Parashat Shemot The Mothers of Redemption by Rabbi Laurence Edwards on Saturday January 13, 2007 24 Tevet 5767 Exodus 1:1-6:1   It Begins with the Women As we begin the…

Parashat Chukat The Perfection of Imperfection by Rabbi Adina Lewittes on Saturday June 23, 2007 7 Tamuz 5767 Numbers 19:1 – 22:1, Shabbat   The opening section of this week’s…

Parashat Vayakhel and Parashat Pekudei The Power of Embodied Love by Rabbi Jill Hammer on Friday March 20, 2009 24 Adar 5769 Exodus 35:1 – 40:38 Reprinted from 23 Adar…

Parashat Vaera: The Real Sin of Sodom by Rabbi Steven Greenberg on Saturday November 11, 2006 20 Cheshvan 5767 Genesis 18:1 – 22:24, Shabbat This week, daily riots erupted in…

  Parashat Beshellach The Sea of Reeds as a Communal Mikvah by Amy Soule on Saturday January 15, 2011 10 Shevat 5771 Exodus 13:17 – 17:16 Anytime I look through…

Parashat Pinchas The Soul of Each and Every Individual by Melissa B. Simon on Saturday July 07, 2007 21 Tamuz 5767 Numbers 25:10 – 30:1,Shabbat This D’var Torah is dedicated…

Holiday: Pesach The Telling Alone is Not Enough by Rabbi Laurence Edwards on Monday April 02, 2007 15 Nisan 5767 Exodus 12:21-12:51 & Numbers 28:16-28:25, Passover Single events are never…

  Holiday This Was Not the Year I Set Out to Have by Meir Hoberman on Wednesday September 16, 2009 29 Elul 5769 Holiday, Rosh Hashanah On Rosh Hashanah we…

Parashat Ki Tisa Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods by Chaim Moshe haLevi on Friday February 22, 2008 16 Adar I, 5768 Exodus 30:11 – 34:35   Adonai Adonai, El…

Parashat Yitro Thunder and Lightning on the Mountain: We begin to dream the God we cannot see by Marisa James on Saturday February 10, 2007 22 Sh’vat 5767 Exodus 18:1…

Parashat Beshalach ‘Til Your People Cross Over by Karen Erlichman on Saturday February 03, 2007 15 Sh’vat, 5767 Exodus 13:17-17:16, Tu B’Shvat The Exodus story of the liberation of the…

Parashat Matot To Annul Patriarchy, One Verse at a Time by Noach Dzmura on Saturday July 26, 2008 23 Tammuz 5768 Numbers 30:2 – 32:42 I want to discuss three…

Parashat Toldot To Parent: A Verb by Igael Gurin-Malous on Friday November 28, 2008 1 Kislev 5769 Genesis 25:19-28:9   Two main ideas come up for me in this week’s…

Parshat Vayeshev To speak out without shaming the Other by Cynthia Hoffman on Friday December 11, 2009 25 Kislev 5770 Genesis 37:1 – 40:23   Parshat Vayeshev is loaded with…

Parashat Ki Teitze To Wear is Human, To Live – Divine by Rabbi Elliot Rose Kukla and Reuben Zellman on Friday September 01, 2006 8 Elul 5766 Deuteronomy 21:10 –…

Parashat Vayechi Uncovering Joseph’s Bones by Rabbi Jill Hammer on Saturday January 06, 2007 16 Tevet 5767 Genesis 47:28 – 50:26, Shabbat   Joseph is a popular biblical character to…

Parashat Re’eh Silencing Abominable Language by Rabbi Seth Goren on Saturday August 11, 2007 27 Av, 5767 Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17,Shabbat, 27th of Av, 5767 I have to confess that this week’s…

Parashat Yitro The First Commandment Revisited by Rabbi Seth Goren on Saturday January 26, 2008 19 Sh’vat 5768 Exodus 18:1 – 20:23 The giving of the Ten Commandments is a…

Sukkot Ushpizin, Shefa, and Choosing Openness Despite Having Been Forced Open by Ri J. Turner on Friday October 02, 2009 14 Tishrei 5770 Sukkot, Sukkot   Sukkot is a fall…

Parashat Vaetchanan VeAhavta — And You Shall Love by Chaim Moshe haLevi on Saturday July 28, 2007 11 Av, 5767 Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11,Shabbat   Last week’s Torah portion, Parashat…

Parashat Matot and Parashat Masei Vows and Thou [Reprinted from 2009] by Jo Ellen Green Kaiser on Friday July 09, 2010 27 Tammuz 5770 Numbers 30:2 – 32:42 and Numbers…

Parashat Vayigash We Are Family by Jase Schwartz on Friday January 02, 2009 6 Tevet 5769 Genesis 44:18-47:27   Joseph, with his flamboyant coat and shifts of identity is often…

Parashat Terumah We Are the Cherubim by Karen Erlichman Tutu on Friday February 27, 2009 3 Adar 5769 Exodus 25:1 – 27:19   A Queer Way to the Divine: Accessorize!…

Parashat Tetzaveh Wearing Our Hearts on Our Sleeves: Aaron haKohen, the Fashionista by Marisa James on Friday February 15, 2008 10 Adar 1 5768 Exodus 27:20 – 30:10   In…

Parashat Chayei Sarah When Gender Varies: A Curious Case of Kree and Kteev by Rachel Brodie on Friday November 02, 2007 21 Cheshvan 5768 Genesis 23.1-25.18, Shabbat “In the Bible,…

Parashat Bo Who Would Moses Marry? by Amy Soule on Friday January 30, 2009 5 Shevat 5769 Exodus 10:1 – 13:16   So Moses and Aaron returned to Pharaoh. He…

Parashat Vayishlach Wrestling Till Dawn by Joy Ladin on Friday December 04, 2009 17 Kislev 5770 Genesis 32:4 – 36:43 Tradition tells us that the Torah is not simply the…

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Many events in Jewish life are accompanied by a ritual or ceremony. Our library of materials can help you find a meaningful LGBTQ inclusive text or interpretation for your event.

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Keshet was a game-changer for our camp! We now have crystal clear understanding of LGBTQ terminology and the confidence to use it. Our counselors are much more intentional about the language they use to express the gender diversity among our campers. Thanks to Keshet, our campers and their families know that they will be fully embraced for who they are.

Sheryl Kirschenbaum, Director of Surprise Lake Camp