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Aleph Melbourne hosts ultra-Orthodox Rabbi | AJN

‘A STRONG ALLY TO LGBTIQ+ PEOPLE’

Aleph Melbourne hosts ultra-Orthodox Rabbi

He maintains his religious practices while simultaneously attending Pride Parades and protest rallies for queer rights and inclusion.

By MIA GARDINER
September 12, 2022, 7:35 pm 

From left: Rabbi Mike Moskowitz and Michael Barnett. Photo: Gregory Storer.

The Victorian Pride Centre on Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, provided the perfect location to hear New York’s ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Mike Moskowitz discuss how Judaism can provide a welcoming and inclusive place for people of all genders and sexual orientations, free from judgement and discrimination.

On his tour of Australia and New Zealand last month, the US based rabbi made time in his schedule to address an intimate gathering, as guest of Aleph Melbourne and the Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council.

Talking about how having a transgender family member challenged and changed his worldview, Rabbi Moskowitz spoke about how he devotes much of his time to making Judaism a safer and more welcoming place for LGBTIQ+ Jews, free from judgement and hostility.

Rabbi Moskowitz told those gathered that he maintains his religious practices while simultaneously attending Pride Parades and protest rallies for queer rights and inclusion.

He also stressed that the fundamental understanding that a person cannot change their sexual orientation or gender identity is of particular importance to him, and shared that he actively combats damaging practices that seek to change or convert LGBTIQ+ people to being heterosexual and/or cisgender.

Aleph Melbourne co-convenor Michael Barnett said, “It was a total joy meeting Rabbi Moskowitz. His passion for LGBTIQ+ people and issues rivals that of any ally I have ever met and sets a very high bar when it comes to advocacy and inclusion.”

He also told The AJN that “Many of those in attendance spoke of how they found it unexpectedly refreshing to meet an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who was proud to be a strong ally to LGBTIQ+ people and advocate for our full inclusion in the Jewish community.”

Barnett added, “What I took from meeting Rabbi Mike Moskowitz is that being decent to LGBTIQ+ people and other vulnerable minorities takes minimal effort, and goes a long way to mend the harms that ill-informed rabbis and others perpetrate in the name of their faith.”

Australian Jewish News – September 2 2022 – Melbourne edition
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In memory of Francine Shadur

Francine Shadur was a memorable highlight of the 2019 and 2020 “Jews of Pride” contingents at the annual Midsumma Pride March.

Francine died in tragic circumstances on August 30 2022.

We celebrate her life in photos and video through her participation in “Jews of Pride”.

Video: A conversation with Rabbi Mike Moskowitz

Aleph Melbourne and the Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council hosted a conversation with Rabbi Mike Moskowitz at the Victorian Pride Centre on Sunday August 14, 2022.

AJN What’s On column August 12 2022

Rabbi Mike Moskowitz is the Scholar-in-Residence for Trans and Queer Jewish Studies at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBT synagogue. He is a deeply traditional and radically progressive advocate for trans rights and a vocal ally for LGBTQ inclusivity. Rabbi Moskowitz received three Ultra-Orthodox ordinations while learning in the Mir in Jerusalem and in Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, NJ.

www.rabbimikemoskowitz.com

The Queer sessions at Limmud Oz Melbourne 2022

Melbourne hosts Limmud Oz on September 3 and 4 2022.

This year’s packed programme includes two queer-themed sessions, both on Sunday September 4.

Sunday September 4 • 10:00am – 10:50am • Ruben Shimonov

Sephardic, Mizrahi and LGBTQ+: Lifting our stories out of the margins

How have LGBTQ+ experiences been represented in Sephardic-Mizrahi cultures? What are challenges that Sephardic-Mizrahi Queer Jews have faced in finding spaces that fully embrace their identities? We’ll explore these questions and then focus on the creation of a grassroots movement that has provided a vibrant and much-needed community at the intersection of LGBTQ+ and Sephardic-Mizrahi life. 

Sunday September 4 • 12:00pm – 12:50pm • Shoshana Gottlieb

All about Chava: The representation of queer Jewish women in film and television

Let’s examine the ways in which television and film represent (or misrepresent) the Jewish/queer experience and how this may impact our lives and identities.

Check out the full programme here.

Rabbi Mike Moskowitz – powerful LGBTIQ+ ally

AJN What's On column: Rabbi Mike Moskowitz
AJN What’s On: Conversation with Rabbi Mike Moskowitz
L-R: Alexander Teh (AGMC), Susie & Dudi Danziger, Michael Barnett (Aleph Melbourne), Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, Colin Krycer (Aleph Melbourne)
L-R: Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, Michael Barnett (Aleph Melbourne)

Aleph Melbourne launches 2022 Federal Election Voters Guide

Aleph Melbourne launches its 2022 Federal Election Voters Guide

MEDIA RELEASE
16 MAY 2022

ALEPH MELBOURNE LAUNCHES 2022 FEDERAL ELECTION VOTERS GUIDE

Aleph Melbourne is proud to announce its 2022 Federal Election Voters Guide.  The Voters Guide is designed to inform voters living in voting divisions with high Jewish populations how to best identify candidates for the 2022 Federal Election who have comprehensively demonstrated or pledged support for LGBTIQA+ equality.

Links to the Aleph Melbourne 2022 Federal Election Voters Guide:

The Voters Guide is based on our three question survey asking:

  1. Do you support preventing all discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people (including school settings, sports settings and religious settings)?
  2. Do support preventing coercive surgeries and other non-consensual medical interventions for children born with variations in sex characteristics?
  3. Do you support ensuring access to gender affirmation treatment for trans and gender diverse people through Medicare?

Where a candidate did not respond to our survey we attempted to infer responses from their campaign or party policies.

Our guide contains the names of all candidates in the Federal divisions of Goldstein, Higgins, Hotham, Kooyong, Macnamara and Menzies.

We encourage voters to locate their voting division, review their candidates’ levels of support for LGBTIQ+ issues and vote in a manner that prioritises LGBTIQ+ equality.

We also encourage voters to contact candidates directly if they require additional information not included in the Voters Guide.

The Aleph Melbourne 2022 Federal Election Voters Guide is the sixth in our series of election guides since 2013. Our previous guides:

ENDS

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Michael Barnett
0417-595-541
contact@aleph.org.au

Statement: Dr Monique Ryan – Independent for Kooyong

Statement from Independent for Kooyong Dr Monique Ryan for Aleph Melbourne in support of the LGBTIQ+ community.

“Protecting the rights of vulnerable minorities, including the LGBTIQ+ community“

Policy Priorities

The protection of the rights of vulnerable people, including those in the LGBTIQ+ community, is a major priority for Monique. She abhors the way the Religious Discrimination Bill has been weaponised – causing harm and distress to LGBTIQ+ people and other minorities including people with disability – and she would oppose any attempts to compromise the protections that are currently afforded by the Sex Discrimination Act and by state Anti-Discrimination Acts. 

Monique condemns the way that trans people have been exposed to ongoing harmful and cruel political posturing throughout this election campaign, and she is aware of the devastation that this hostility inflicts on individuals and communities. She opposes the Save Women’s Sports Bill – and supports the continuation of s42 of the Sex Discrimination Act – as both currently stand. She is concerned that this Bill would further marginalise a vulnerable group of people – especially trans and gender diverse children – who already experience a high degree of social exclusion and isolation. Trans people must be at the centre of discussions involving any legislation that directly impacts them. 

If Monique is elected she will work with LGBTIQ+ communities to move equality forward. That means removing anti-LGBTIQ+ exemptions from discrimination law, supporting better mental health services and school inclusion programs, ensuring equity in Medicare for trans and gender diverse people, and putting an end to conversion practices and unnecessary, non-consenting medical interventions on children with variations of sex characteristics.

Monique stands for a community that is inclusive, generous and welcoming.

Further information on Dr Monique Ryan’s policies is available here.

Dr Monique Ryan – Independent for Kooyong – a proud LGBTIQ+ ally

Statement from David Zyngier

Aleph Melbourne received the following clarifying statement from Glen Eira Councillor Dr David Zyngier on April 4, 2022, issued in response to the tweet from @StrewthQueen below:

As a member of the Greens I fully support and endorse the non-negotiable rights of all people to their fundamental human rights. I fully support the Greens policy on trans rights. I acknowledge as a cis male there is much that I do not fully understand and am open to being educated about issues that impact and effect our LGBTQI+ community. I look forward to future productive conversations with members of the LGBTQI+ community and especially those members of the Greens who identify as trans. If there are transphobic or trans exclusionary members of the Greens, they do not represent Green values or mine.