October 24 to November 3, 2012

Presented by A Wider Bridge, Nehirim, and Keshet, our second annual trip for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Jews, partners, friends, and allies is a 10-night journey that will take us to the desert, Jerusalem, the Galilee, and Tel Aviv. We’ll travel from history to modernity.

Come find your place in Israel’s future!

Register now or get more info

Registration deadline: July 30, 2012
Price: Before June 30: $2700 (airfare not included). After June 30: $3000
An application for scholarships and subsidies will be on the Wider Bridge website.

This Israel trip promises:

Engagement & Connection
Build bridges with Israel’s dynamic LGBTQ communities, organizations, leaders, artists and change makers, including LGBTQ Palestinians. We’ll meet the activists working for change, and we’ll sample the culture and nightlife of Tel Aviv, one of the leading gay cities of the world.

Exploration & History
Hike in the desert, swim in the Dead Sea, visit the old city of Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, and the ruins of Bet She’an. And take a historical walking tour of Tel Aviv, with an LGBTQ perspective.

Community & Spirituality
Together we will create a vibrant community of adults of all ages, sexual and gender identities, diverse political perspectives, and of all streams of Jewish life, religious and secular. And we will join LGBTQ Israelis and allied communities as we celebrate Shabbat in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Most of all, we will have fun together!

Am Hayam Library at the Brewster Ladies Library
July 29, 2012, 7:30 pm
Brewster, MA

The last few years have seen rapid progress toward equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in all aspects of American society. Often, though, this change has been seen in negative terms, pitting religion against civil rights, or God versus Gay. In his bestselling book, God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality, however, writer and activist Jay Michaelson has argued that not only should religious people support LGBT equality because of religion and not despite it, but that this public debate is an opportunity for spiritual growth for all of us, regardless of our sexual identity, gender identity, or religious (or not!) identity. Come here Jay talk about the spirituality of introspection, dialogue, and eros in this fascinating lecture and conversation.

Nehirim and the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference Jewish Working Group invites everyone to our 4th annual erev Shabbat service and 1st annual Shabbat dinner on Friday, June 1st, at the Arch Street United Methodist Church at N.Broad St (would be14th St) and Arch St, right across from the Convention Center. Everyone is welcome to attend either/both! Bring a friend, Jewish or not (even if they haven’t attended PTHC), and celebrate the beauty and peace of Shabbat.

Shabbat Dinner

Don’t know challah from halvah? Haven’t had a matzah ball in years? That’s fine, bubbeleh! You can still enjoy Shabbat dinner at PTHC! Dinner will begin at 5:30pm on Friday, June 1.  Nehirim faculty member Joy Ladin will be the “keynote” speaker during dinner, sharing her experience as the first transwoman professor at an Orthodox Jewish university. Dinner, catered by Maggiano’s, will be vegetarian. If you need gluten-free, please request it when you RSVP. We ask that everyone RSVP, although we will attempt to welcome walk-in’s. Dinner will cost $16.00/person and payment can be made in advance at:http://mazzonicenter.org/events/shabbat-dinner-and-service-2012

or by sending a check to:

Shelley Rosenberg-1220 Red Rambler Rd. Rydal, PA 19046.

Shabbat Service

The Shabbat service will begin at 7:00pm on Friday, June 1. Joy Ladin will be giving the d’var (talk/discussion) during the service, which will be led by Jewish Working Group members….and anyone else who would like to participate. We’ll save some parts to assign that night, so don’t be shy about asking for one. Our service will be short and sweet and strive to include everyone, no matter what type of synagogue you [used to] go to….or never went to. Don’t know the words? Doesn’t matter! We hum, read in English, and generally just enjoy being together to celebrate Shabbat.

Unity in Chicago, 1 pm
1925 West Thome Avenue

Religious people should support equality for gays and lesbians not despite religion — but because of it.

So writes Jay Michaelson in his new bestselling book God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality, which Publisher’s Weekly called “a salvo in the case for equality” and which was recently #1 in gay/lesbian nonfiction on Amazon.com.

Contrary to the myth that the Bible prohibits homosexuality (the myth of “God versus gay”), Michaelson shows how the handful of Biblical verses sometimes used against LGBT people are ambiguous, and subject to interpretation. The real question, he says, is not “what about Leviticus?” but what values cause us to choose one interpretation or another, and how we as human beings grow when we encounter other people.

In this text-based and no-holds-barred discussion, Michaelson discusses his own personal journey of acceptance and affirmation, and how the overwhelming majority of our religious values support inclusion of LGBT people. Plenty of time will be allowed for questions and conversation.

Register for 2, 3, or 4 days at the Wilderness Torah site

Join Congregation Or Chadash for a Shabbaton with

Nehirim’s West Coast Director Rabbi David Dunn Bauer:

Sacred Sexuality and the Jewish Way:

Bringing our sexual selves into prayer and worship

Bringing our sacred selves into our sexual relationships

Congregation Or Chadash

5959 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, Illinois

Friday  June 1 

7:00 p.m. Wine and Cheese Reception with Rabbi Bauer

8:00 p.m. Friday evening services with Rabbi Bauer speaking on “The Erotics of Jewish Prayer”

Saturday June 2

10:00 a.m. Saturday Services – Movement Meditation as Part of Worship

12:30 p.m. Optional Lunch

2:00 p.m. Workshop with Rabbi Bauer on Jewish Queer Sexual Ethics

Details and reservations: www.OrChadash.org