Those kinky Hebrews: marriage in the Judeo-Christian scriptures | On Line Opinion.
Tag: Lesbian
Accepting the Unacceptable | Galus Australis
Jewish Care Financial Counselling
18 May 2012
Hi Aleph team,
I just wanted to write a quick note to introduce my service, lodge my support and to volunteer to assist with making Jewish Care services available to your members and supporters.
- I have been the financial counsellor at Jewish Care since 2009 and I assist people with financial difficulties with the aim of helping people become independent and self-sufficient, at no cost. I’ve attached my latest report (provided to and approved by Consumer Affairs Victoria as part of a funding agreement) for your information.
- I know that the GLBT community faces discrimination of all sorts – often from the Jewish community – and I wanted your members to know that they shouldn’t be reluctant to seek assistance from my program: there is a friendly face here.
- I do have a waiting list, and my service is free, so I’m not touting for business – I just want to be of service and fulfil my responsibility to help where I can.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me on 8517 5977.
Regards,
Ben
Ben Weinstock
Financial Counsellor
Individual & Family Support
619 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004
Tel: 03 8517 5977
Email: bweinstock@jewishcare.org.au
Web: www.jewishcare.org.au
AJN Letters: Michael Barnett clarifies comment in Masorti article – June 15 2012
15 June 2012
The Australian Jewish News Melbourne edition
Letters to the editor should be no more than 250 words and may be edited for length and content. Only letters sent to letters@jewishnews.net.au will be considered for publication. Please supply an address and daytime phone number for verification.
Setting the record straight
I WOULD like to note that in the article on Australian Masorti support for same-sex marriage (AJN 08/06), my reference to commitment ceremonies for heterosexual couples was printed out of context.
It was submitted to the paper by way of comparison, in relation to Progressive Judaism in Australia currently offering same-sex Jewish couples a commitment ceremony, but denying this option to those heterosexual couples who would like religious recognition of their relationship but who do not want to get married.
MICHAEL BARNETT
Ashwood, Vic
Parents supporting gay children | AJN
15 Jun 2012
The Australian Jewish News Melbourne edition
PETER KOHN
Info: parents@keshet.org.au; 0467 508 868.
Parents supporting gay children
KESHET Australia, a rights group recently formed to protect Jewish children who may be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex (GLBTI), is forming a parents’ support network.
Jonathan Barnett, Keshet’s president, said parents are a critical factor in the wellbeing of children, not least when the children are becoming aware of their sexuality.
“Parents are a big issue. How parents respond to their kids coming out, whether it’s a 14-year-old or a 24-year-old, really can make a big difference to how the kid feels and how they feel connected to family and the community. It’s part of our bigger mission,” he told The AJN.
“It’s not just the child that has to come out, but the parent, and they come out to their friends and family.”
Barnett said the three sets of parents founding the network have all gone to Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays (PFLAG), a mainstream support group. “But what they all observed was that nobody else was Jewish and they wanted to be with other Jews, who understand the Jewish community.”
The group is being formed as an addition or alternative to PFLAG. “We’ll have kosher cake, for example, and that’s one of the little differences,” he said.
Barnett reflected that perhaps Orthodox families may need the service more than Progressive families, “but everybody needs it”, he said.
In a letter to The AJN, Barnett stated: “In our community, where success is often defined in terms of heterosexual relationships, marriage and grandchildren, there are many parents of GLBTI children who experience feelings of despair and even isolation. Keshet parents believe that there is a need to reach out and talk about these common concerns.”
Keshet Australia was formed earlier this year as an advocacy group for the Jewish GLBTI community, based on the Keshet organisation in the United States. The local group has strong informal ties to Progressive Judaism Victoria.
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Statement from Aleph Melbourne in response to ACL Jim Wallace on Sunrise
Is it with extreme disappointment and dismay that a representative of an Australian religious organisation has invoked the name of one of the most feared people of the Holocaust, in comparison with a minority group who are campaigning for equal rights under Australian law.
Tens of thousands of homosexual men were murdered under the hand of Joseph Goebbels, alongside many millions of Jews and people from a variety of national identities and religious beliefs. To be compared to this person, in the pursuit of equality and human rights is unconscionable. It beggars belief that an individual with a respected career in the Australian Defence Force is incapable of comprehending the gravity and insensitivity of the words he uttered on national television.
As a support group representing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from a Jewish background, the words of Jim Wallace and the Australian Christian Lobby hit our members and those in the community who share a similar identity with a double punch, and they continue to reverberate through the families and friends of these people and the communities they belong to.
There is no excuse for hate and intolerance of people on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. Equal rights in marriage will only benefit the wider community and help show the commitment and love people in all relationships, irrespective of gender, express for each other. All Australians will benefit from equal marriage rights.
It is time for the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, and the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott, to stop listening to those who peddle hatred and intolerance, and start listening to those people who want equality and love. It is only then that Australia will become a much better country and the political leaders can know that they have made a worthwhile contribution to the welfare of all Australians, now and into the future.
Michael Barnett.
Convenor, Aleph Melbourne.
June 7 2012.
[ Source material ]
Australian Masorti welcomes same-sex ceremony guidelines | AJN
8 Jun 2012
The Australian Jewish News Melbourne edition
PETER KOHN
Australian Masorti welcomes same-sex ceremony guidelines
AUSTRALIAN Masorti rabbis and Jewish communal figures have welcomed Conservative Judaism’s decision to issue guidelines for its rabbis to conduct same-sex commitment ceremonies.
But groups representing the Jewish Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender or Intersex (GLBTI) communities, while endorsing the move, noted it fell short of a fully fledged gay chuppah. Gay marriage is not legal in Australia.
The Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the American organisation for Conservative (Masorti) rabbis, voted last week in favour of issuing the rules under which its rabbis can conduct these ceremonies.
It follows the RA’s decision six years ago to allow its rabbis to officiate at same-sex ceremonies if they wished.
The RA has published two sets of guidelines, for ceremonies that more closely resemble a marriage, and for those that are more distinct from marriage.
Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins of Emanuel Synagogue in Sydney, who has officiated at a same-sex commitment ceremony in Australia, welcomed the decision “which supports civil rights and equal rights for all Jews, regardless of their sexual orientation”.
Rabbi Adam Stein of Kehilat Nitzan in Melbourne said he was glad his movement approved same-sex ceremonies in 2006 and that it has now issued guidelines, but he would need to consult with Nitzan’s board before conducting such a ceremony. John Rosenberg, a founder of Kehilat Nitzan, told The AJN the guidelines are a positive move. “Masorti Judaism strongly supports inclusion and I think this is a wonderful move towards inclusion for all members of our community. But Rabbi Stein will need to provide guidance for the congregation in terms of what we do.”
Michael Barnett, convenor of GLBTI support group Aleph Melbourne, welcomed the guidelines, but called for a commitment ceremony to be made available to heterosexual couples. “Separate is not equal. With the Conservative Jewish movement creating a special class of religious marriage ceremony for same-sex couples, despite the positive message given by the recognition of these relationships, they are sending the message that the relationships between same-sex couples are second class and not equal to that of heterosexual couples.”
In Sydney, GLBTI support group Dayenu’s acting president, Kim Gotlieb, saw it as “a wonderful step forward in legitimising the loving bond and commitment that many same-sex couples feel for one another”, but noted that “kedushin” – the concept of a sanctified Jewish marriage – continues to be excluded from the ceremony. “However, the Masorti and Progressive synagogues in this country are poised to provide gay marriage, whenever the groundswell of public support manages to convince our politicians to move into line with prevailing international trends.”
[ Clarification: the reference to commitment ceremonies for heterosexual couples was printed out of context. It was submitted to the paper by way of comparison, in relation to Progressive Judaism in Australia currently offering same-sex Jewish couples a commitment ceremony, but denying this option to those heterosexual couples who would like religious recognition of their relationship but who do not want to get married. — Michael Barnett ]