Posts tagged identity
This is My God (Pride Shabbat)
This is My God (Pride Shabbat)

Though LGTBQ Pride month is celebrated these days with a popular parade supported by corporate sponsors, it wasn’t always this way: the reason we celebrate in June is to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, a spontaneous act of resistance, at a time same-sex relationships were punished as crimes. This uprising became known as the major turning point in the Gay Liberation Movement. Judaism and other religions, too, were countercultural in their founding: they arose as spontaneous acts of resistance to challenge an oppressive status quo, and offer a prophetic vision of a just and liberated future.

Read More
Adam Lavittpride, LGBTQ, liberation, current events, identity, history, homophobia
Shabbat Vayishlach

Like Jacob, each of us wrestles, at different times in our life to find peace and wholeness, to live lives of integrity. We can all think of a moment when it seemed like we were doing everything right, succeeding in all the ways others expected us to — but…felt…like something was missing... Only after we put aside the expectations others had of us, could we hear the name given to us by God, our higher calling, our deeper purpose. Jacob’s was to become Israel, to move beyond his small sense of self to become the father a nation.

Read More
Adam Lavittidentity, purpose, Jacob
Broadening the Jewish Gene Pool

What does it mean that the donor is not Jewish? What is the significance of using someone else’s genetic material?

As a queer man who has thought about how he might have children someday, these questions resonate with me. Friends of mine, invested in having a child, recently asked me if I would consider donating my genetic material — and whether I might want to co-parent.

Read More
Adam Lavittfamily, identity