A groundbreaking project has been launched to help congregations create ritual, lifecycle moments and communal practices that are inclusive of LGBT+ Jews.
Belonging in Ritual is the brainchild of KeshetUK, which educates and trains Jewish organisations, schools and synagogues in LGBT+ inclusion.
The charity is inviting people to submit LGBT+ inclusive resources connected to milestones, such as marriage and bereavement, and to prayer and education. These will later be made available on a digital portal.
Ariel Chapman, executive director of KeshetUK, said: “KeshetUK has been around for ten years now, supporting LGBT+ members of the Jewish community. Now it feels like it’s the right time to support shuls in their journeys to become more inclusive.”
He said the resource was aimed at congregations across the denominations. “We are proud to work with Orthodox, Masorti and Progressive communities – with any community which wants to work at being inclusive, whatever that means for them. We don’t believe that one size fits all.”
He said that in the last ten years, LGBT+ inclusion in the Jewish community had improved “incredibly”, noting that KeshetUK had helped the Chief Rabbi launch his guide, The Wellbeing of LGBT+ pupils – a guide for Orthodox Jewish schools, in 2018.
He said that the challenges LGBT+ Jews faced might include finding a rabbi and a congregation willing to conduct a same-sex wedding ceremony “which aligns with their denomination, so it fits both parts of their identity”.
Chapman said that following an increase in numbers wanting to attend shul after October 7, he was hoping the Belonging in Ritual project would help provide “a route back into the community for LGBT+ Jews and show how inclusive Judaism can be”.
The portal is already open for submissions and will stay open indefinitely. Chapman said that all authors would need to provide consent for their work to be uploaded. All submissions will then undergo a review process to ensure that they are in line with KeshetUK’s values.
For more information or to submit resources, go to:
keshetuk.org/contribute of click here
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