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Eshel (organization)

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Eshel
Formation2010
Legal status501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
HeadquartersNew York, New York, United States
Executive Director
Miryam Kabakov
Founding Director
Rabbi Steve Greenberg
Websiteeshelonline.org

Eshel (Hebrew: אשל) is a nonprofit organization in the United States and Canada that creates community and acceptance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) Jews and their families in Orthodox Jewish communities.[1] Eshel provides education and advocacy, a speaker's bureau, community gatherings, and a social network for individuals and institutions. It was founded in 2010 to provide hope and a future for LGBTQ Jews excluded from Orthodox and Torah observant communities.[2]

Organization

The Manhattan-based organization was founded in June 2010 when Nehirim, an organization serving LGBTQ Jews of all religious backgrounds, received funding to serve Orthodox LGBTQ Jews. This initiative grew into Eshel. Eshel is Hebrew for the biblical shrub with bright red flowers planted by Abraham[3] to signal to parched travelers that a welcoming tent was nearby, often thought to be a tamarisk.

Miryam Kabakov[4] is Eshel’s executive director, and co-founded the organization with Steve Greenberg.[5] Eshel operates with a modest staff, and the assistance of volunteer leaders and educators.

In June 2017, Eshel was selected by UpStart for its Jewish non-profit organization accelerator.[6]

Programs

The organization partners with Orthodox synagogues and communities to educate and enable families, teachers, and leaders to welcome their LGBT family members and friends, with initiatives for parents, synagogues, and high schools. Eshel organizes educational weekend retreats which are distinctly observant of Shabbat and dietary laws.

Parents

Eshel supports Orthodox parents and families with LGBT children to provide social, religious, and medical resources.[7] Many parents are concerned about their children's alienation from the Orthodox community after coming out.[8] Eshel helps parents work with rabbis, teachers, summer camps, and neighbors to promote the love and acceptance of their children to keep families together and reduce suicide. Eshel held its first parents' retreat in 2013,[9] and continues to hold a monthly call-in for parents along with an annual parents retreat.[10]

Synagogues

Eshel launched its Welcoming Shuls Project (WSP) in 2015 to quietly identify and match welcoming Orthodox and traditional synagogues, rabbis, and communities with LGBTQ Jews wishing to participate in community synagogue life. It had identified more than 100 welcoming traditional and Orthodox synagogues by 2017,[11] and helps guide transgender Orthodox Jews to synagogues that welcome them.[12] Eshel convened Orthodox community members in Pico-Robertson to discuss the changing visibility of LGBTQ Orthodox Jews.[13]

High schools

Eshel works with Orthodox Jewish high schools to reduce the expulsion and bullying of Orthodox LGBTQ students, and enable the students to remain engaged members of the school and Orthodox community. Eshel assists with one-on-one meetings and leads training sessions with educators.[14] In 2016, Eshel intern and Shalhevet High School student Micha Thau created and launched the Pledge initiative at the Los Angeles Orthodox school.[15] Eshel has subsequently worked with other religious high schools to protect their LGBT orthodox students from bullying and expulsion.[16]

In 2017, Eshel signed on to the initiative Kavod Achshav ('Dignity Now'), and For the Sake of Dignity: A Campaign for Trans Youth, to urge Jewish organizations "to publicly support and protect transgender youth from harassment, bullying, discrimination, and violence."[17]

Shabbatons

Eshel hosts an annual retreat for LGBTQ Jews at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center that is confidential and Sabbath observant.[18]

Eshel organizes periodic regional retreats. Eshel organized a Midwest retreat in August 2013 in Wisconsin[19] and hosted a shabbaton at the Stanton Street Synagogue in June 2016.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Our Mission". eshelonline.org. Eshel. Retrieved June 12, 2018. Eshel's mission is to create community and acceptance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Jews and their families in Orthodox communities.
  2. ^ "Eshel & JQ International partner" (Press release). Los Angeles, CA: JQ International. October 8, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  3. ^ "815. eshel". biblehub.com. Bible Hub. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  4. ^ Paull, Laura (June 14, 2016). "Beyond he and she: New expressions of gender arrive in the rabbinate". The Jewish News of Northern California. San Francisco, California. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  5. ^ Shupac, Jodie (June 16, 2014). "Pride Week: Could Canadian Shuls Be More LGBTQ-inclusive?". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  6. ^ "UpStart Accelerator Announces Tenth Cohort of Game-Changing, Innovative Jewish Organizations". upstartlab.org. UpStart. June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  7. ^ Jacobs, Phil (May 4, 2017). "A Journey Helped by Eshel". Jewish Link of New Jersey. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  8. ^ Ross, Tova (March 14, 2014). "Orthodox Parents of LGBT Children Navigate Their Own Coming Out Process". Tablet. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  9. ^ Palmer, Joanne (April 14, 2016). "Coming out of the parents' closet". The Times of Israel. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  10. ^ Prince, Cathryn J. (May 4, 2017). "Support group helps Orthodox parents of gay children out of the closet". The Times of Israel. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  11. ^ Ginsberg, Johanna J. (January 10, 2018). "Welcoming Shuls Project opens Orthodox doors to LGBTQ Jews". New Jersey Jewish News. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  12. ^ Melamed, Samantha (March 14, 2017). "Transgender and Jewish in Philly? 'It's not so simple when Moshe becomes Marsha'". philly.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  13. ^ Gronowitz, Allyson (September 21, 2016). "Workshop aims to change Orthodox LGBTQ conversation". Jewish Journal. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  14. ^ Cohen, J. (February 24, 2016). "Orthodox Community to Tackle LGBTQ Issues at Philadelphia Conference". Jewish Exponent. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  15. ^ Thau, Micha (September 29, 2016). "The Pledge". Jewish Journal. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  16. ^ Arom, Eitan (May 17, 2017). "Can gay and lesbian teens find a home in Orthodoxy?". Jewish Journal. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  17. ^ Ingall, Marjorie (March 2, 2017). "'Trans Jews Belong Here'". Tablet. New York, New York. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  18. ^ "A Retreat for Orthodox LGBT Jews" (Press release). Eshel. December 3, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  19. ^ "Eshel to sponsor retreat for LGBT Orthodox Jews in Midwest". Windy City Times. Chicago, IL. June 18, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  20. ^ "Lower East Side Rabbis Hint at Excommunicating Orthodox Shul for LGBT Shabbaton". The Jewish Press. Brooklyn, New York. June 2, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
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