Jewish edian Modi Rosenfeld, a mastay for Orthodox dienc, is gay. So what? - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Contents:

• FIRST OPENLY GAY ORTHODOX RABBI ORDAED JESALEM
• GAY RABBIS
• MAJOR US JEWISH GROUP ELECTS 1ST OPENLY GAY RABBI
• AM I A GAY RABBI, OR AM I A RABBI WHO IS GAY?
• EVANSTON SYNAGOGUE WEL FIRST FEMALE AND OPENLY GAY RABBI
• FIRST OPENLY GAY ORTHODOX RABBI TO PRENT ANNUAL WALL LECTURE ON MARCH 22
• GAY, ORTHODOX RABBIS NOT ‘OUT’ OF NSIRATN AT YCT
• JEWISH EDIAN MODI ROSENFELD, A MASTAY FOR ORTHODOX DIENC, IS GAY. SO WHAT?
• LGBTQ PRI MONTH: OY VEY, WHY ARE SO MANY JEWS GAY?
• "A MOL FOR PRI": LOL RABBI BE 1ST GAY MAN TO LEAD PROMENT MNOTA SYNAGOGUE

FIRST OPENLY GAY ORTHODOX RABBI ORDAED JESALEM

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A gay rabbil stunt nied ordatn by a liberal semary New York was weled to the rabbate Jesalem, breakg a longstandg taboo agast homosexualy the Orthodox muny. Many young gay Orthodox Jews who would have prevly left the fold are stayg “and ’s almost unimagable for them to not have a place, ” he ntued. The Renstctnist and Reform movements began ordag gay rabbis the 1980s, wh the Conservative movement followg 2006.

GAY RABBIS

For his part, Lans do not believe that the Biblil prohibn of same-sex relatns appli to people for whom homosexualy is “not an act of voln” and thks that there is room for LGBT Jews the wir muny. Rabbi Nathan Lop Cardozo, another proment rabbi who has ocsnally e to nflict wh the Orthodox mastream, agreed wh Lans, tellg JTA that while he didn’t have a rabbic source to back up, he believ that “the prohibn [on homosexual acts] only appli to those who are purely heterosexual.

MAJOR US JEWISH GROUP ELECTS 1ST OPENLY GAY RABBI

Assertg that Orthodox views of homosexualy have been slowly changg, he said that there is a new awarens that “they’re not pedophil, they’re not people of falsehood or whatever, they’re good people.

Lans said that the genis of his transformatn om the mastream Orthodox posn, which views homosexualy as a grave s, me several s ago after he explaed to members of his own ngregatn the Uned Stat why he had cled to attend a nference anized by the Central Conference of Amerin Rabbis after the Reform-affiliated group passed a rolutn on LGBT cln. And while the rabbi ially uldn’t image gay Jews wantg to rema the Orthodox muny, let alone bee Jewish scholars unr s spic, he now has a different view.

AM I A GAY RABBI, OR AM I A RABBI WHO IS GAY?

“I thk we will start wh the gay muny self and if there is the abily to create a real muny on the relig level will lead to acceptance or maybe will be limed for a long perd, ” he said. The Renstctnist Rabbil Associatn has elected an openly gay rabbi to lead the natnal rabbic Jason Kle, the executive director of Hillel at the Universy of Maryland, Baltimore County, sce 2006, was elected to lead the RRA durg s 39th annual nventn New Orleans, which end on Wednday. It is the first natnal rabbic associatn of one of the major Jewish nomatns the Uned Stat to be led by a gay man, acrdg to the was ordaed by the Renstctnist Rabbil Council 2002 and graduated om Columbia Universy 1997.

EVANSTON SYNAGOGUE WEL FIRST FEMALE AND OPENLY GAY RABBI

But, I thought, “I am sure that I will not only be weled wh open arms, but I will fd a lovg muny who n help mol for me beg a gay rabbil stunt, and subsequently a gay rabbi…right? I soon disvered, at least for my first year, I was the only openly gay stunt on mp; my therapist always tells me that ’s important to note openly gay, bee you never know, and I do appreciate her optimism.

FIRST OPENLY GAY ORTHODOX RABBI TO PRENT ANNUAL WALL LECTURE ON MARCH 22

Somehow by flt, I beme a halutz (a pneer), the very inty I had hoped to avoid when I chose to be a gay rabbil stunt the Reform world, as opposed to the Conservative Ccnati, I had to actively thk about how to navigate all of my inti wh a limed support work.

GAY, ORTHODOX RABBIS NOT ‘OUT’ OF NSIRATN AT YCT

In my personal statement, I told a story of buildg a relatnship wh a ngregant a muny Northwt Florida who was ially hant about havg an openly gay rabbil stunt; the fact that I had not yet mentned my sexualy to that muny, but rather had been outed by my precsor is a whole other story.

JEWISH EDIAN MODI ROSENFELD, A MASTAY FOR ORTHODOX DIENC, IS GAY. SO WHAT?

I was told that foreground my sexualy too much: It showed me as “the gay rabbi” more than “Ari who is gay”…and also holds many other inti and tras, of equal value and import.

LGBTQ PRI MONTH: OY VEY, WHY ARE SO MANY JEWS GAY?

While this is certaly te, felt strange to hear om – mostly straight – iends, lleagu, and teachers that would behoove me to “tamp down the gay. Bryan Lowr lamented how some public figur have taken to g out by statg that beg gay is only but one small part of who they are, not their whole sence.

After takg over at the Jewish Renstctnist Congregatn Evanston Augt, Rachel Weiss is the synagogue's first openly gay senr the signifince of that distctn li more the chang that have occurred the last 30 years than Weiss herself, she said.

"A MOL FOR PRI": LOL RABBI BE 1ST GAY MAN TO LEAD PROMENT MNOTA SYNAGOGUE

"One of the thgs that is important is that a generatn ago an out, gay rabbi would have had very limed accs to a mastream ngregatn, " Weiss said. "Weiss' strong tn background and experience at a synagogue that valued cln and boasts the largt gay ngregatn the untry "were extremely important to , " Trillg said. By Rabbi Steve Greenberg, – who is openly gay, and married Yoni Bock and Ron Kaplan at the 6th & I Synagogue Washgton November – over 100 Orthodox Rabbis – among them some of the most proment rabbic figur the Orthodox Jewish world, cludg Rabbi Hershel Schachter and Rabbi Hershel Reichman of Yhiva Universy and Rabbi Elie Abadie of the Saa Synagogue – issued a statement clarg that, “By fn, a unn that is not sanctned by Torah law is not an Orthodox weddg, and by fn a person who nducts such a ceremony is not an Orthodox rabbi.