LGBTQ Panel: What is the Legacy of Queer Rabbis? Rabbis Judith Levitt, Daniel Lichman, indigo Raphael, Judith Rosen-Berry, Elli Tikvah Sarah, Anna Wolfson Finchley Reform Synagogue, 8 November 2023 Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah’s contribution to the Panel Personal introduction It’s good to be here with you all for this special event. I was ordained on […]
Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah Q1: How have your intersecting identities affected your (faith) leadership? Back in the late 1970s, I was a lesbian radical feminist separatist. Married to a man in 1975, I came out in 1978. A Marxist during my undergraduate studies as a Sociology student at LSE, after I graduated in 1977, I […]
Thinking in Twos In recent years, we have become more aware of the extent to which we make sense of the world in terms of binaries; that is, in ways which split our perception and experience of the world into oppositional, mutually excluding categories. To name just the two most common binaries: good and evil; male and female. When splitting […]
Introduction: Why a radical feminist Jewish lesbian decided to train for the Rabbinate Good evening everyone. Thank you, Nigel for inviting me to speak to you all this evening. I’m going to begin with a sobering backdrop to our lives and take you back briefly to that devastating time over 75 years ago. One third […]
Friends, it’s a pleasure to be here participating, once again, in the annual Interfaith service organised by the Brighton and Hove Interfaith Contact Group. Every time we come together from across the city, my spirit is lifted by the spirit of hope, goodwill and mutual respect that we generate in these gatherings. It is vital […]
Friends, it’s wonderful to be here at this 25th conference of the International Congress of LGBT+ Jews. The first conference I attended was held in Amsterdam in July 1987. I then went to the one in Chicago in July 1989, just after my ordination. Subsequently I was part of the organising committee for the 13th […]
Friends: It’s wonderful to be here this afternoon for this annual interfaith service that celebrates the rich and diverse religious and spiritual life of our city, and the bonds of love and respect we have forged between us. Brighton and Hove is a city of angels – and I want to take this opportunity to […]
Good morning, everyone. I’m delighted to be here today. When I was at school, one of my favourite subjects was History. Then I had the opportunity to do Sociology A-level and I was soon hooked. It was so exciting to learn about society here and now and how it works. And then, when I went […]
Good afternoon everyone. It is wonderful to be here and to participate once again in the annual Brighton and Hove Interfaith service. The theme of today’s service, as we know, is listening. For Jews, listening is an imperative: Sh’ma! ‘Listen!’ The central statement of Jewish theology and practice, expressed in the Hebrew Bible in the […]
Dear Friends and honoured guests, here we are gathered together for this sacred service of Remembrance. We probably think we know what we mean by the word ‘remembrance’. At a remembrance service, we remember. But of course, we don’t all remember. None of us here today remember the First World War, and only a few […]