Jewish leaders praised President Barack Obama’s statement that he personally supports gay marriage. “I am pleased that the President has made a decisive statement in support of marriage equality,” said National Jewish Democratic Council chair Marc R. Stanley in an emailed statement. “President Obama has admirably continued to demonstrate the values of tikkun olam in…
In this week’s podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis is joined by Orthodox rabbi, Steve Greenberg, who recently wrote for the Forward about his decision to conduct a same-sex commitment ceremony. Then Josh talks with Nathan Guttman, the Forward’s Washington correspondent, to discuss how the US and Israel are trying to handle Iran. Finally, Forward editor Jane…
Not a month goes by without a young person just out of the closet — or sometimes that person’s shocked parents — contacting me in search of Orthodox leaders to respond credibly to their questions. It was this reality that was on my mind as I confronted the backlash to a same-sex commitment ceremony I…
Roee Ruttenberg reported over the weekend in +972 Magazine that “for the first time in history an openly-gay American rabbi ordained by the Orthodox movement has officiated at a same-sex wedding ceremony.” He was referring to a Jewish marriage ceremony that Rabbi Steve Greenberg performed for gay couple Yoni Bock and Ron Kaplan at the…
The Republican upset victory in the Brooklyn-Queens special election to replace ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner is obviously bad news for Democrats. But it has more far-reaching ramifications, most of them bad, according to this take by Haaretz’s new New York bureau chief, former CNN commentator and onetime Forward Jerusalem correspondent Chemi Shalev. Shalev thinks there are…
New York’s weekend of marriage equality launched with a joyous Jewish twist. Mayor Michael Bloomberg last night officiated at the wedding of two Semitic members of his staff at a Gracie Mansion ceremony. Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz and Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt tied the knot after being together for 14 years, according to…
The LGBT–oriented Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in Manhattan, led by openly gay Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum — a Sisterhood 50 selection — was front and center in the fight to get same-sex marriage legislation passed in New York state. (Kleinbaum also made headlines when she put her arm around an ultra-Orthodox man protesting the legislation, and…
If you were to ask the question “Who is a Jew?” to some ultra-Orthodox Jews demonstrating against marriage equality yesterday in the New York state capitol, their answer would definitively be “Not Sharon Kleinbaum.” In a video made yesterday by The Times Union (the newspaper serving the Albany region) and posted today on the gay…
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