Contents:
WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT GAY WEDDG CEREMONI?
The uple also swapped out the tradnal first blsg, whose scriptns of sexual rtrictn are rooted the Levic passage that also prohibs gay sex, and stead chose the Jewish blsg said on a rabow, which not only symboliz the eternal venant between God and human begs, as scribed Genis, but is a symbol of gay pri. But, ultimately, he felt that paperg over the differenc between a queer and non-queer weddg wouldn’t do jtice to his own story, as he grew up a tradnal observant Jewish hoehold where was assumed that he would have a tradnal weddg, but then, by g out as gay, he went through tim when he thought that he would never have that. As a straight post-nomatnal rabbi who has advoted for women’s rights and gay rights Jewish rual practice, and who has done much work the area of Jewish marriage and divorce, I thk that straight upl have much to learn om gay upl when to signg their weddg ceremony.
The “Br Habat” ExampleLike morn heterosexual Jewish upl, gay Jewish upl are tryg to strike the balance between tradn and morny. Gay upl, therefore, are sentially startg om scratch to create a ceremony that reflects their own valu yet also looks and feels like a Jewish is how I felt when I created my olst dghter Michal’s “br habat” ceremony welg her to the venantal muny of the Jewish People. As straight upl attend their gay iends’ weddg ceremoni and see all of the thought that went to creatg their ceremoni, I would hope that they would not want to settle for ls.
My personal visn for Jewish marriage is that straight upl will learn om their gay brothers and sisters that the weddg ceremony n be Jewish yet still reflect the uple’s egalarian valu and visn for their marriage. What may have started om the handip the gay Jewish world of havg no tradnal precent to rely on has proven to be an impet for much need creativy and change the area of Jewish weddgs.
JEWISH DENOMATNS ON GAY WEDDGS
First ed at a gay Jewish weddg 1986, the br ahuvim, or lover’s ntract, rporat the stcture of a shtar shutafim, or bs partnership.
For their weddg, Greenberg and Cohen turned to Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, to velop a ceremony which bed bs partnership ntracts wh Jewish tradns of vow-takg and oaths to create a bdg agreement of obligatns unr Jewish law.
“There were not that many halachilly mted gay Jews out there who were tryg to get married wh the purview of halacha, and really took serly, ” she said. “My biggt fear was that my parents would go to shul and people would say, ‘oh, they’re the parents of that gay girl, ’” Lnbm said “And that is exactly what happened, but my parents were so proud of . They’re among many gay Jewish upl rooted tradnal observance who see their weddgs as not jt personal celebratns, but public exampl of what’s possible the observant muny more broadly.