Pride & No Prejudice

On Friday, May 20th, Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel will celebrate its first Pride Shabbat – it will be a Marom Kabbalat Shabbat filled with wonderful music, a pre-service performance by the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus and fun and festive oneg following.

That such an event is even happening still blows my mind a bit.

I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and while I always thought it was possible, I did not fully accept that I was gay until my late 20s.  I couldn’t – it was not what was expected of me.  And I don’t mean I ever worried if I would be shunned by family or friends – thankfully I was very fortunate in that arena.

But I had been raised in a Conservative Jewish home and large active Conservative suburban shul – went to Shabbat services, Junior Congregation, Hebrew School, Hebrew High School, Confirmation and Midrasha classes.  Throughout all of that training, it was drummed in my head that, as a Jew, I was responsible for the survival of the Jewish People – a task which I was eager to embody – but it was the way in which I was told to achieve that goal that became the problem.  The only way to save the Jewish People, I was told, was to marry a nice Jewish girl and raise Jewish kids.  Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

To paraphrase the poet Dylan (Bob not Thomas), the times, they are a changin’ and at BZBI, my how they have changed.

I now belong to a synagogue that actively seeks LGBTQ members, strives to provide a safe and welcoming environment for LGBTQ Jews and their families, a shul that celebrated marriage equality with a wedding legally sanctioned by both the United States and the Conservative Movement, a house of worship that seeks to find the right words to honor and appropriately recognize transgendered Jews who may be called to the Torah, and so much more.

I never thought I would ever hear an applicant for a Senior Rabbi position at a Conservative shul as Rabbi Friedman did, openly, actively speak about LGBTQ inclusion as a fundamental value for future success.  I never thought that a synagogue board would be so supportive and encourage the clergy, the leadership and lay leaders to attend and engage in workshops and training to make long-lasting changes to the synagogue’s outreach, printed materials and signage – with that same sense of openness and welcoming attitudes.

It was Cantor Grainer who had the first idea for BZBI to hold a Pride Shabbat.  Rabbi Friedman and Rabbi Goldman have been vociferous advocates for inclusion, our Executive Director and Board President have also joined the chorus making the BZBI tagline “Where you belong” not just words on a business card or a website – but a belief in something more that has turned action into reality.

“Pride” is an appropriate word to use for this special Shabbat – as we welcome all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Jews, their friends, allies and families – to join us in our synagogue to worship together as a unified community of Jews.  We take pride in being able to celebrate welcoming the Sabbath together.

But more importantly, and very personally, pride is the best word to use in reference to BZBI.  I am very proud of my synagogue – our synagogue –  for the incredible efforts made to be a hub of Conservative Jewish life in Center City Philadelphia that is open, inclusive, welcoming and forward thinking for all who choose to worship while holding true to our core Jewish values.

Marom means “elevated” and as we are elevating Kabbalat Shabbat, so too are we making Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel itself marom – elevated – in a way that makes me so very proud.

 

Tags: LGBTQ, Philadelphia Gay Men's chours, Pride