Rabbi Steven Greenberg Talks About Being Orthodox and Gay

Daddies? Girl: Steven Greenberg and husband Steven Goldstein are raising their daugher, Amalia. Image by haaretz
Amalia, two and a half years old, has an abundance of self-confidence and a winning smile. Her parents, Orthodox rabbi Steven Greenberg, 57, and actor and opera singer Steven Goldstein, wed last year in a civil ceremony in New York, while holding the toddler in their arms.
A few weeks ago, Greenberg and his family were staying with friends on Emek Refaim Street in Jerusalem. Upon seeing Amalia with her parents, I wondered aloud who the biological father was. She looks just like him (he eventually confirmed with a nod that he’s the biological father). She calls him “Abba” and Goldstein, “Daddy.” Both men speak Hebrew.
How do you share the childcare and who gets up with her at night?
Greenberg: “We both get up. The division of labor changes from day to day. But the one who always knows where the clothes she likes are, and the toys and all of her stuff, and never forgets where her barrettes are and is also great at taking care of her hair − is my husband. He’s more obsessive than I am about those details.”
By more obsessive do you mean more feminine?
“No, I didn’t say that,” Greenberg hastens to reply. His partner, who was busy making a cheese sandwich for their little girl, interjected. “Yes, a little more feminine: Why don’t you want to admit it?”
For more go to Haaretz
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Hillel CEO says he shares ‘concerns’ over campus deportations, calls for due process
-
Fast Forward Jewish Princeton student accused of assault at protest last year is found not guilty
-
News ‘Qatargate’ and the web of huge scandals rocking Israel, explained
-
News Who would protect New York Jews better? Cuomo and Lander trade attacks on the campaign trail
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.