"Building the Tower: Bavel and
the Loss of Young Lives"
in
memory of Seth Walsh, Tyler Clementi, Billy Lucas, and Asher
Brown
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Dear
Chevreh,
I
write to you hopeful that each of our children and every adult in
our community knows how precious their life is. Your life, no
matter who you are, is sacred and important. Sexual identity is
complicated. It is also beautiful. Coming Out is part of a
journey of personal growth. Each of us discovers ourselves at
different points in our lives. We are straight, we are gay, we are
bisexual, we are transgendered. We are people, each created in
God's Image.
In response to the teenage boys who took
their own lives due to homophobic bullying and harassment during
this past month, Keshet (an incredible Jewish GLBTQ
organization), began a campaign called "Do Not Stand Idly
By." I am very proud
that Netivot Shalom was one of the first shuls in the country to
sign on to this national response, which has a large and diverse
number of national and local Jewish signatures, from both
organizations and individuals.
I'm especially grateful that
Shifra Pride Raffel delivered
these words in her drasha this morning during Shabbat davening.
Click here to read the drasha, "Building the Tower: Bavel and the
Loss of Young Lives." Though I could not be there
myself, her teaching permeated my Shabbat, as I looked at every
face I saw with a sense of obligation and a renewed determination
to continue our work to make our shul and larger community a safe
place, a home for generating personal hope.
I
spoke with our Amitim class about this last week, and ask you to
not wait to have this conversation. We cannot claim to be an GLBTQ
inclusive community if we do not, as Shifra challenged us in her
drasha, identify ourselves as safe people for young people to
speak to. I promise to be a safe person for you, and many, many,
many people in our community are here for you as
well.
My
deepest prayer is that no person be hurt for being themselves. May
we, as a sacred community, help this become even more real - and
contagious.
Shavuah
Tov,
Rabbi
Creditor
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www.netivotshalom.org
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