Equality and inclusion have always been central tenets of the Jewish faith, and the Reform Jewish community is committed to the implementation of those principles in our country’s civil rights laws.
Conversion was not an instantaneous event, but a journey that began years before, when I first began to wonder why we fast on Yom Kippur - and it was one that would continue long after I emerged from the mikveh.
After doing half an hour of work – during which time I received a few more calls to action through email, Facebook, and Twitter – I asked myself: Why don’t I think I’m the kind of person who would show up? Who is?
My teens lobbied their members of Congress on LGBTQ equality, comprehensive sexuality ed, climate change, the minimum wage, refugee resettlement, and gun violence prevention, each choosing an issue that was personally important to them.
On December 8, the National Center for Transgender Equality released the findings from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS), the largest survey to ever be conducted on the lives and experiences of transgender Americans.
For many years, I felt inhibited to knock on the door of a synagogue. Simultaneously, my heart and gut knew where I belonged. There is in fact Jewish ancestry on my father’s side – contested by some relatives; strong enough to reinforce my feelings of visceral kinship.
I hired an ancestral DNA expert to analyze my Jewish blood but, frustrated with my demands for details, he sent a curt email I will never forget: “You’re either Jewish or you’re not,” he wrote. Maybe this search was as much about my faith as it was about my heritage. Maybe I really was a Jew at heart, too.
Two weeks ago, I hung out with President Bill Clinton and some of his staff members when he and his entourage made a campaign visit to Philadelphia. It was an incredible experience and a reminder that our political leaders are human – and as such, there’s much we can learn from them.
A conversation with Rabbi David Ellenson, past president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, about the founder of the Reform Movement, Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, on the anniversary of his birthday, March 29, 1819.
ReformJudaism.org: What
During this journey, I’ve been asked: “Why?” In Judaism, I found meaningful rituals and a history of peoplehood that I have taken on as my own. From the time I left the Christian church, I sought a spiritual home – a place of tolerance and acceptance. In Judaism, I’ve found exactly that.
Together, we will champion the lessons of Passover by bringing greater wholeness, justice, and belonging to our world.