Tagged LGBT

First openly gay Orthodox rabbi ordained in Jerusalem

Newly ordained Rabbi Daniel Atwood is congratulated by Rabbi Daniel Landes at the Jerusalem Theater on May 26, 2019. (Sam Sokol)
May 28, 2019 / Sam Sokol, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A gay rabbinical student denied ordination by a liberal seminary in New York was welcomed into the rabbinate in Jerusalem, breaking a longstanding taboo against homosexuality in the Orthodox community. Daniel Landes, a prominent American-Israeli rabbi, granted semichah, Hebrew for ordination, to Daniel Atwood alongside a… Read more »

Facing inauguration and women’s march, DC synagogues split on entering the fray

Sixth and I, a nondenominational synagogue, has planned a Shabbat of programming around the Women's March on Washington, including meals, lectures, meditation and yoga. (Courtesy of Sixth and I)
January 18, 2017 / Ben Sales, JTA

  (JTA) — On Friday, the United States will inaugurate a new president and usher in an era of new policies and rhetoric. But at the Sixth and I synagogue in Washington, D.C., eyes are on the day after, when some 200,000 marchers will gather to reassert support for… Read more »

Orthodox lesbian character — and other reasons to watch ‘Younger’

On “Younger,” Maggie (Debi Mazar), left, hosts a Shabbat dinner for her love interest, Malkie (Sally Pressman), and her friends. (Courtesy of TV Land)
November 28, 2016 / Linda Buchwald. JTA

(JTA) — TV Land’s “Younger” is a fun sitcom about Liza (Sutton Foster), a recently divorced 40-year-old mother who passes herself off as 26 after having a tough time landing a job in the publishing industry.   The show — created by Darren Star, of “Sex and the City” and “Beverly Hills,… Read more »

New head of Anne Frank Center wants a rights agenda as aggressive as he is

Steven Goldstein, shown in 2014 with Loretta Weinberg, the majority leader of the New Jersey state Senate, is the new executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect. (Facebook)
June 17, 2016 / Ben Sales, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — When the 2015 movie “Freeheld” came out, featuring Steve Carell as the real-life LGBT rights activist Steven Goldstein, Goldstein sang its praises to publication after publication. How did he really feel? “It was painful to watch,” he told JTA last week. “I detested the movie… Read more »

Israel touts gay-friendly climate, but rights fight faces religious firewall

Israelis participating in the annual gay pride parade in Jerusalem, Sept. 18, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash 90)
March 3, 2016 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — As last Tuesday ended, it felt like Israel’s gay community had taken a major step forward. On Feb. 23, eight separate Israeli parliamentary committees convened to discuss a broad set of issues facing the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Lawmakers from a range of parties… Read more »

Op-Ed: Reform movement will continue to push for transgender rights

Rabbi Tsipi Gabai blessing newly named transgender teen Tom Sosnik at Tehiyah Day School in El Cerrito, Calif., March 13, 2015. (Misha Bruk)
November 24, 2015 / Barbara Weinstein, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — On Nov. 5, delegates to the Union for Reform Judaism’s 73rd biennial convention unanimously adopted a resolution on the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. It was a moment of great pride and celebration, tempered by the knowledge that just two days earlier — and… Read more »

Jerusalem Pride Parade murder sparks calls for change to laws — and pushback, too

Some of the participants mourning at a Jerusalem vigil for Shira Banki, the teenager who died three days after being stabbed at the Jerusalem gay pride parade, Aug. 2, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 4, 2015 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — The murder of a 16-year old girl at Jerusalem’s gay pride parade has sparked calls for LGBT-rights legislation — as well as pushback from those who oppose it. Shira Banki died Sunday after being stabbed while marching in the parade on Thursday night. Five others were wounded… Read more »

In their off hours, El Al flight crews are now ‘ambassadors’
November 29, 2011 / Dan Klein, JTA
Six members of an El Al Airlines crew spoke with students at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., as part of a new program, Nov. 28, 2011. Shown with the crew is Lehi Rothschild, third from right, the Jewish Agency fellow who organized the event. (Dan Klein)

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (JTA) — A good flight crew requires a certain amount of charm to keep passengers calm during turbulence, emergencies or pretzel shortages. Five El Al Airlines flight attendants and a pilot put those skills to the test Monday at Rutgers University in New Jersey as they… Read more »

Multi-faith pride service to launch exhibit of sacred items
September 28, 2011

The Third Annual Multi-Faith Pride Worship Service, “Just Be —Emerging Out of the Wilderness,” cosponsored by the Wingspan Multi-Faith Working Group and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s LGBT Jewish Inclusion Project, will be held Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 915 E. 4th… Read more »

Many faiths to take part in LGBT pride service
September 30, 2010

Beloved: A Multifaith Pride Service to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit communities, will be held Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El. Co-sponsored by the Wingspan Multifaith Working Group and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s LGBT Jewish Inclusion Project, the service will… Read more »