|
Chaverim y'karim ~ Dear friends,
At some point in my Jewish life, I learned that social action and social justice are two different things. I can remember a colleague who preferred to work on projects like soup kitchens rather than gay rights because the former was "social action" and the latter was "social justice." He felt that whereas the former can unite a community the latter can divide.
There is a direct relationship between action and justice. Often one leads to or requires the other. During this month of June, as marches, prayers, and gatherings highlight LGBTQ members of our families, communities, and daily-living, we ought to give thanks for the many places where action and justice have allowed for greater acceptance and compassion.
Last week, I wrote of Martin Luther King Jr's famous line about judging a person "not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." By extension, it's not a hard journey to add that we should not judge a person based upon gender identity. It feels like the minimum we can do - but with maximum benefits as we strive to embrace and live into one of Torah's 613 commandments, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). God does not delineate or express what kind of neighbor. And thus, neither should we. The photo above shows the quote from Lev. 19 and in the rainbow section added "even the one who is not" ... thus creating a midrash on those sacred words: "Love your neighbor even the one who is not like yourself."
The rabbis debate in the Midrash (Torat Kohanim 4:12) as to the most important - or most central - of Torah's verses. For Rabbi Akiva, that line from Leviticus 19:18 wins. Ben Azzai says, "This is the book of the generations of Adam (humanity) on the day that God created humanity, in the very image of God" (Genesis 5:1) which is an even greater principle. The line from Leviticus reminds us of our obligation to our neighbor (love in the Torah is often more about obligation than an emotional connection) and the line from Genesis teaches us that we all come from the same Divine Source. Both lines are central and support each other. And indeed, they are the heart of what allowed for our nation's Founders to pen that most famous of lines in the Declaration, line, "...all men are created equal." Without Genesis 1:27 and 5:1, we may well not have had that wording available.
During this month and all year, may we share with all of our neighbors in forming and finding a world of welcome and kindness, of understanding and generosity because we are so commanded and because we are all from the same Divine Source.
Please God, we can all live into those obligations and create a blessed life for a nation in and of which we can all be proud.
L'shalom,
Rabbi Mark Cohn
ON THIS TOPIC ...
Among the excellent pieces written this month, I am particularly taken by two articles:
Eve Barlow's "Road Opener" (16 June 2026) in her Substack, Blacklisted. To give you a sense, as she marched in Tel Aviv at the Middle East's largest (and other than Jerusalem, the only) Pride parade, she writes:
"The streets were sweating exceptionalism. Yes gay. Yes lesbian. Yes bisexual. Yes transsexual. But more than that. I see Israeli, I see Arab, I see Jew, I see Christian, I see Muslim, I see Coptic, I see Druze, I see Armenian, I see European, I see Black, I see Brown, I see Asian, I see young and old, I see two men with a stroller, and two women with a stroller. I see hot policemen and policewomen safeguarding the fun. I am surrounded by people who have served and would die for their country, for their liberty; the only liberty anyone has to do exactly this in the Middle East. It is exhilarating, and it is electrifying. And nobody there is thinking about anyone who hates us for doing it. We were having far too much fun."
Brianna Wu's "Israel's enemies are my enemies, so why can't Democrats see that?" (8 June 2026) in The Jerusalem Post. As someone who is transsexual, works in high-tech, and is not Jewish, Brianna has a unique and important view on Israel and the war(s) with Iran and Iranian proxies. She writes:
I have had conversations with American feminists mourning the death of the Ayatollah, gay men rooting for a regime that would forcibly castrate them, and trans women insisting that the country our Palestinian sisters dream of escaping to is somehow killing trans women. It is a moral Disneyland populated by Americans so thoroughly conditioned by anti-Western propaganda that they can no longer distinguish terrorists from the victims of terrorism. The situation feels even more surreal as a high-profile transsexual woman in the Democratic Party.
Lastly, from my colleague, Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin in The Religious News Service, From 'feigele' to free: What does it mean to be LGBTQ+ and Orthodox? (22 June 2026). Read how "Two identities seem to be in a wrestling match — but both can win."
| 
