Trouble Making Judaism by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah
“At its heart, Judaism is about – is supposed to be about – trouble-making.”
From the prophets who admonished the leaders and people of Israel for their ethical misconduct through to the rabbis who troubled the Torah to make meaning for Jewish life, Judaism has been engaged with troubling and trouble making.
Trouble-making is about challenging and disrupting the status quo. It is also about being troubled and troubling our Jewish texts and inheritance to adapt and change in response to the lives of Jewish individuals, families and communities here and now.
The book falls into four parts. Beginning with an exploration of some trouble-making precedents – the Torah’s account of the creation of humanity, Miriam, the 2nd century scholar, B’ruria, and the first woman rabbi, Regina Jonas – Elli Tikvah Sarah goes on to explore: the struggle for gender equality and the inclusion of lesbian and gay Jews, ways of engaging as Jews and Jewish communities to foster Jewish life today, and the challenge to acknowledge, both, Israel and Palestine.
About
“A Lesbian Feminist Queer Jew and a pioneer in the area of LGBTQ+ inclusion and same-sex marriage, putting this commitment at the heart of my work as a rabbi.”
Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah
A feminist, who came out as a lesbian in 1979, after engaging in feminist research, writing and editing, I entered the Leo Baeck College in 1984, and was ordained as a rabbi in 1989, becoming the first lesbian to lead a mainstream congregation in the world.
I’ve served both progressive movements in Britain and was rabbi of Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue from December 2000 until retiring at the end of April 2021. I am now Emeritus Rabbi.
A Lesbian Feminist Queer Jew and a pioneerin the area of LGBTQ+ inclusion and same-sex marriage, putting this commitment at the heart of my work as a rabbi, I’m also deeply committed to promoting human rights, social justice, interfaith dialogue, Israeli-Palestinian coexistence, and tikkun olam, repair of the world, and have written extensively on all these themes.
I adopted the middle name ‘Tikvah’ in 1998 because my journey has taught me that whatever the challenges and obstacles we face, individually and collectively, we must embrace hope (tikvah).
A portrait of Elli
A short portrait film about Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah & the BHPS community made in 2015
At the beginning of 2015, an undergraduate called Sam Gavin asked me if he could make a film about me, focusing on my LGBTQ experience, as part of his film studies degree. Sam had grown up at Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue, celebrating his bar mitzvah and graduating from the Kabbalat Torah class, and I had known him since he was a small child. I agreed, and we set a date for filming.
One spring morning a group of film students arrived at my home just outside Seaford, each one using the project to express their particular skills – as director, sound engineer, etc. Sam had the role of producer. In the afternoon, we travelled to Brighton and Hove to film at the synagogue, which was in the process of rebuilding at the time.
Sam sent me the film, entitled, Tikvah, when it was completed, and I congratulated him and his colleagues on doing a fantastic job.
I was reminded of the film a couple of months ago, when someone, who had seen it on YouTube tweeted about it, and so I watched it again. Tikvah makes a powerful statement about the LGBTQ experience and values that have infused my rabbinate, and just as important, about what a wonderful inclusive congregation Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue has become: a beacon of Liberal Judaism on the south coast.
A PRAYER FOR PEACE BETWEEN ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS
As the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians continues decade after decade, to pray for peace seems a hopeless and naïve folly. And yet, today it is more urgent than ever that a resolution is achieved that acknowledges the needs of both peoples for peace and justice, sovereignty and security. And so, we pray:
El Malei Rachamim, God Full of Compassion, who heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds, we ask You to show all Your children the way of love and compassion, so that hatred ceases to scar their lives.
Ein Ha-Chayyim, Source of Life, we call upon You to send Your abundant blessings into every home, Israeli and Palestinian, so that new hope may overcome old fears.
Adonai Tzadik, Righteous One, who exhorts us to pursue Justice, we fervently pray that a spirit of righteousness may prevail, so that both peoples find the courage to reach a just settlement of their differences.
Oseh Shalom, Maker of Peace, who teaches us to be seekers of peace, we entreat You now to spread Your tabernacle of shalom–salaam over all the inhabitants of Your land, and to support the peacemakers among both peoples in their efforts to walk the path of reconciliation, so that a just peace may reign supreme at last – bimheirah b’yameinu, speedily in our own day.
And let us say: Amen.
Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah
Get in touch
Or you can email me directly at : rabbiellitsarah@gmail.com