Friends,
This year, the
themes of Sukkot - both the fragility of human life and the
communal strength of a truly open tent - have an especially painful
resonance. I am sure you share my sadness and outrage that in the
past month five teenage boys took their own lives due to homophobic
bullying and harassment (and another in July). The loss of a
single life is cause for heartbreak. Five teen suicides in just one
month, however, is a crisis. This is a wake-up call that
something must change and that the Jewish community must not remain
silent.
Please see the
pledge we are circulating below and sign on if you wish to make
this public commitment. We've also included a list of Ten Things You Can Do Today to Strengthen Our
Community. Let's send a message to everyone in our communities
that we will not stand by in the face of suffering and injustice.
Our goal is to gather 18,000 pledges by the end of the calendar
year; we will publish the intial signatories
on October 11, National Coming Out Day. This is a
pledge we are asking of all Jewish community members, youth
and adults, so please forward widely.
B'Shalom,
Idit
Klein
Executive
Director, Keshet
Do
Not Stand Idly By: A Jewish Community Pledge to Save
Lives
As members of a tradition that sees each person as created in the
divine image, we respond with anguish and outrage at the spate of
suicides brought on by homophobic bullying and intolerance.
We hereby commit to ending homophobic bullying or harassment of any
kind in our synagogues, schools, organizations, and communities. As
a signatory, I pledge to speak out when I witness anyone being
demeaned for their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender
identity. I commit myself to do whatever I can to ensure that each
and every person in my community is treated with dignity and
respect.
******
Campaign
launched by Keshet in partnership with:
The Adventure Rabbi Program
Allied Jewish Federation of
Colorado
The Anshe Emet Synagogue, Chicago,
IL
Bay Area Masorti
Beth Chayim Chadashim, Los Angeles,
CA
The Bronfman Youth Fellowships
(BYFI)
California Faith for Equality
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family
Foundation
Central Conference of American Rabbis
(CCAR)
Cleveland Jewish LGBTQ2A Inclusion
Project
Combined Jewish Philanthropies of
Greater Boston
Congregation Am Tikva, Boston,
MA
Congregation Bet Haverim, Atlanta,
GA
Congregation Beth Ahavah,
Philadelphia, PA
Congregation Beth Elohim, Brooklyn,
NY
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, New
York, NY
Congregation Beth El, Berkeley,
California
Congregation Beth El Binah, Dallas,
TX
Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, New York,
NY
Congregation Kol Ami, West
Hollywood, CA
Congregation Netivot Shalom,
Berkeley, CA
Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, San
Francisco, CA
The Dobkin Family
Foundation
Gay and Lesbian Yeshiva Day School
Alumni Association (GLYDSA)
Gay and Lesbian Outreach and
Engagement Program (GLOE)/Washington DC Jewish
Community Center
Hebrew College
He'bro
Hazon
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish
Campus Life
Institute for Judaism & Sexual
Orientation, Hebrew Union College-JIR
InterfaithFamily.com
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat
Center
JALSA - The Jewish Alliance for Law
& Social Action
Jerusalem Open House for Pride and
Tolerance
JESNA - The Jewish Education Service
of North America
JewishBoston.com
Jewish Communal Leadership Program,
University of Michigan
The Jewish Community Center in
Manhattan
The Jewish Community Relations
Council of Greater Boston
Jewish Council for Public
Affairs
Jewish Council on Urban
Affairs
The Jewish Federation of Greater
Washington
Jewish Gay and Lesbian Group,
London, UK
Jewish Gay Network of
Michigan
Jewish Milestones
The Jewish Multiracial
Network
Jewish Organizing
Initiative
Jewish Outreach
Institute
Jewish Reconstructionist
Federation
Jewish Transitions
Jews United for Justice
Joshua Venture Group
Judaism Your Way, Denver,
CO
Jumpstart
Just Congregations of the Union for
Reform Judaism
JQ International
JQYouth
Kehilat Hadar, New York,
NY
Kehilla Community Synagogue,
Piedmont, CA
Kehilla School
Kolenu, Seattle's Young Adult GLBTQ
Group
LGBT Alliance of the Jewish
Community Federation, San Francisco, CA
Lippman Kanfer Family
Foundation
Ma'yan
Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters
Community Mikveh
Mechon Hadar
Moishe House Boston: Kavod Jewish
Social Justice House
The Morningstar
Foundation
The Natan Fund
Nathan Cummings Foundation
Nehar Shalom
Community Synagogue, Jamaica Plain, MA
Nehirim: GLBT Jewish Culture and
Spirituality
New Jersey's Lesbian & Gay
Havurah
North American Federation of Temple
Youth (NFTY)
Orthodykes NY
Progressive Jewish
Alliance
Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical School of Hebrew
College
The Rainbow Center, Atlanta,
GA
RAVSAK: The Jewish Community Day
School Network
Reconstructionist Rabbinical
Association
Reconstructionist Rabbinical
College
Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism
Repair the World
ROI Community
Romemu
Ruth Allen Ziegler
Foundation
The Samuel Bronfman
Foundation
Shalom Amigos, Mexico
ShefaNetwork: The
Conservative/Masorti Movement Dreaming from Within
Storahtelling
SVARA
TBS Keshet, Temple Beth Shalom,
Needham, MA
Trembling Before G-d Outreach
Project
The Union for Reform Judaism
(URJ)
University of Washington
Hillel
UpStart Bay Area
A Wider Bridge
Women of Reform Judaism
Zeek Media, Inc.
Ziegler School of Rabbinic
Studies
|