Update from The Intern, My Experience So Far!

Hey Everyone, its been a while!

so much has happened since my last post, sadly i haven’t gotten to post much, so here is  a little update of my experience at the Open House and living in Jerusalem.

So there has been a lot of cool events happening at the JOH, and i was privileged to be a part of them. First off we had Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem Basketball team come to the Open House to give support for the work we do, and we went out to lunch together, it was really great to see a sports team show such support. check out some photos of the event: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.600365373326818.1073741827.159727300723963&type=1

The next project I worked on was reviving the English Speakers Group. So far we have had a great turnout at our meetings and we have had some great dialogues  and discussions and we all went out for dinner and a drink as well. The group is really coming together and expanding nicely so free to join the group Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JOHEnglishgroup/

Another project i got to work on was Renowned Gay orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg’s Book Tour and panel event. The event was a great success with a prestigious panel featuring Rabbi Ron Yosef of “HOD” (a gay Daati organization), Sarah Weil (Founder of “Women’s Gathering) and Renana Leviana (Bat-Kol, Lesbian Group). The topic was

“From Toleration to Integration
(and maybe even Celebration)

how can we move from simply accepting ourselves
as an unfortunate reality, to celebrating ourselves
as special creations of God

This project was a great learning experience for me, i got to explore Jerusalem while posting signs for the event, met some really great people before and at the event, and it was overall a great success, with over 50 people attending.

Another event i got to work on was “the Interfaith Dialogue on the topic of Homosexuality”.
We were joined by special guest Michael Toumayan of the HRC’s (Human Rights Campaign) Religion and Faith program in Washington D.C., who lead the meaningful discussion.

Aside for my activities in the Open House, i have gotten to know and meet many people from Jerusalem’s small but amazing LGBT community. I met many Havruta (the prominent Daati Gay Community) members, who have all been like family, and got to experience the nightlife here and make new friends. I also attended the”Shabbat Kehilah” which took place in Nachsholim which was hosted by Zehorit Sorek of the “Pride Minyan” in Tel Aviv, which was a wonderful weekend with so many nice people from the LGBT community.

I have also gotten to work with the amazing Sarah Weil of the “Women’s Gathering” a great social group that hosts sophisticated events for the Queer community. I am also a moderator on a new page for LGBT Olim, founded by Roy Freeman of the Tel Aviv ESG. It is a great resource for anyone who has, or is planning on making alyiah: https://www.facebook.com/LGBTOlim

Aside from my time spent within the LGBT community, it was great to spend Purim, Yom Hashoah,Yom Hazikoron, Yom haatzmaut, and Shavuot here in Jerusalem. The Open House and the wider Queer community had many events and celebrations around these days as well.

There are many more upcoming events and projects that i hope to help with, and i am looking forward to it. Having been here for over 3 months, i really have to say that i have had an amazing experience so far, and thanks to the Jerusalem Open House I have been given many great opportunities, met so many amazing people, and made many new friends. Jerusalem has a small but vibrant LGBT community and it is only growing and expanding. Every community takes time to build itself up, and from what i have seen LGBT Jerusalem is doing a great job!

Until next Time,

Marty.

LINKS:

JOH: http://joh.org.il/index.php/english

English Speakers Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JOHEnglishgroup/

Womens Gathering: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JOHEnglishgroup/

LGBT Olim: https://www.facebook.com/LGBTOlim

Havruta: https://www.facebook.com/Havruta.IL

HOD: http://www.hod.org.il/?en=1

Bat-Kol: https://www.facebook.com/groups/batkol/

Pride Minyan: https://www.facebook.com/pride.minyan

Hello From The New intern!

Hey everyone, I’m Marty the new intern at the Jerusalem Open house.

I am here from NY on a 5 month internship program, and so far its been amazing. Everyone at the JOH has been really welcoming and there is a great sense of community within the LGBT circles in Jerusalem. The community here is small as say compared to Tel aviv, but there is a real sense of family that is unique to the Jerusalem lgbt scene. There is a great mix of people within the community ranging from religious to secular and everything in between, and its really refreshing.

While i am here i hope to help and work on as many projects as possible to help out the community. The first thing i am working on is restarting the “English Speakers Group” at the JOH, so feel free to join our Facebook group and page below for all the latest updates and events. I will also be updating this blog constantly with current events and topics from around Jerusalem.

I am looking forward to this great experience, and hopefully i will be able to contribute to this wonderful community!

Until Next Time,

Marty.

 

English Speakers Group Links:

FB Group:http://www.facebook.com/groups/JOHEnglishgroup/

FB Page:http://www.facebook.com/JOH.ENG.Speakers

 

 

MKs Debate at JOH

This month MKs from various political parties in Israel came to the JOH in preparation for the upcoming election.  They spoke to community members about a variety of issues.  Take a look at these articles about it from the Jerusalem Post!

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=296346

http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=296345&R=R101

 

Jerusalem is Proud to Present…

Happy Hanukkah everyone! While Zach has been in the US for the past few weeks meeting with some American friends of the JOH, I have been working on several projects on my own. One has been reaching out to various US campus Hillels about viewing the movie “Jerusalem is Proud to Present.” This movie focuses on the work done by the JOH, specifically with the 2006 World Pride Festival. I think that this is a great opportunity for American students and campus community members to get an idea of the struggles an organization like JOH  faces as well as the community and support it provides for many in Jerusalem. Here is some information about the movie for anyone interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Is_Proud_to_Present

http://www.sfjff.org/film/detail?id=3863

Hello from the new intern!

Shalom! My name is Lucia and I am a new intern at the Jerusalem Open House. I am a junior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst majoring in Judaic Studies with a Middle Eastern Studies minor.  This fall I am at the Hebrew University’s Rothberg International School.

As an LGBT ally and advocate of Jewish pluralism, an internship at the JOH seemed like a great fit. I am working for Zach the Development Director and will be updating this blog with news about what’s happening at the JOH, in Jerusalem and within the wider LGBT community. 

 

Until next time!

Lucia

 

Ani lo medeberet ivrit!

Hello! Dog. The head of the government of Israel flies to America. Despite the two semesters of classes I took four years ago, that is about all of the Hebrew I know. And as much one would think that “I love books!” would come in handy during day-to-day conversations, it surprisingly does not. So when I found out that the Jerusalem Open House held a weekly English Speakers’ group on Monday nights, I made sure to show up.

During my first full work week, I stayed at the offices of JOH until 7.30 rolled around, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to spend a few hours actually understanding what was being said around me. That particular Monday was a board game night, the sort of event that is perfect for a self-proclaimed geek who has a large Settlers of Catan sticker plastered across her laptop. As I raced against my new friends during Dutch Blitz, a “vonderful goot game,” it felt like I had run into a little slice of home.

The next week, our group traveled from the Open House to a local café called Tmol Shilshom for a fabulous talk by Jay Michaelson. Jay (English Speaker himself!) is the author of a new book, “God vs Gay? The Religious Case for Equality.” Over a delicious plate of spinach ravioli in cream sauce, I listened as Jay explained his own personal journey towards coming out and how he, as a religious Jew, finds that the Scripture supports the acceptance of gay people. Through his reading of the holy texts, Jay finds that religious individuals should support equal rights for the LGBTQ community because of their religion, rather than in spite of it.

(You can find out more about “God vs Gay?” here. It’s an excellent book with a convincing argument and I recommend that anyone interested in gay rights checks it out: http://www.jaymichaelson.net/godvsgay/ )

 And now, five weeks later from my first English Speakers’ meeting, I am sitting in the JOH once again on a Monday night with an amazing group of people who have a penchant for the Anglo tongue. This week, we are watching The Wizard of Oz and discussing what exactly makes Judy Garland a gay icon.

The Jerusalem Open House truly does offer something for every of person, regardless of age, religion, or language spoken. There are weekly meetings for queer and questioning teenagers. There is another group that brings together LGBTQ young adults. There is even a monthly “Geek Night” where people like me can get their fill of Apples to Apples, Monopoly, Risk, and other games! So if you ever find yourself in Jerusalem with a night free, just check out the calendar on our website. I bet you’ll find a group that seems like it was made just for you. I sure did.

Shalom!

-Carissa

Haifa Pride

This past Friday, a few of us trekked over to Haifa to represent Open House in their annual Pride March. I wasn’t really sure what to expect – I had been to Tel Aviv Pride a few weeks back and while I knew this would be different, I was surprised at just how different the two were. The short of it was that Pride in Tel Aviv was a party and Pride in Haifa was a protest. Tel Aviv was about celebrating how far the LGBT community has come in the city and Haifa was about how much work still needs to be done.

 

And to be perfectly honest, I liked Haifa Pride much better than Tel Aviv’s. In many ways, it felt like a breath of fresh reality – the issues at hand were actually addressed instead of being glossed over for the sake of partying. This is not to say the event was somber, but rather, it was quite inspiring. The theme of the event, as many of the speakers brought up, was that Haifa should be a city for everyone. As such, this wasn’t only a struggle against homophobia, but against racism (one speaker specifically detailed the links between this and the racism that Ethiopian and Mizrachi Jews face in the city), sexism and any other oppression that plagued the city.

 

(thanks to Maiya for the picture!)

But what I found most inspiring was the feeling of solidarity going around. Although there were only a couple of hundred people here compared to Tel Aviv’s couple of thousands, the unity among the Marchers, some carrying Israeli flags, some representing Palestinian solidarity, some from LGBT Orthodox groups and a even a couple of Knesset members was really unlike anything I’ve seen before. Everyone was serious and passionate about making change and the energy was infectious – it really reminded me of why the work done here at Open House is so important. I left feeling much more uplifted than I did in Tel Aviv, even if this March was much more honest about the situation. After attending Haifa Pride, it definitely made me that much more excited to see this kind of action and solidarity and the upcoming Jerusalem Pride March. 

-Ayelet