Tag: Limmud Oz

The Queer sessions at Limmud Oz Melbourne 2025

How kosher is homosexuality? How Queer is the Torah? Being both gay and straight. The struggle religious schools face with queer students. All this and more at Limmud Oz 2025.

Melbourne hosts Limmud Oz from June 7-9 2025.

This year’s packed programme includes four queer-themed sessions, as detailed here.

Sunday June 8 • 12:00pm – 1:00pm • Idan Dorshav Dershowitz

What does the Bible say about Homosexuality?

The “abomination” passage in Leviticus 18 and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 are the two main biblical texts that come to mind when thinking about biblical attitudes toward homosexuality. We will explore the history of how these two passages have been interpreted, beginning already in the biblical period itself.

Sunday June 8 • 5:15pm – 6:15pm • Shoshana Gottlieb

70 faces: reading queerness into Torah study

Discover a new and exciting face of Torah! In this session, we will learn some Torah together (all levels welcome), and seek to understand how and where queerness can be seen within the text. How can our understanding of the stories, our traditions, and ourselves be made more meaningful?

Monday June 9 • 1:15pm – 2:15pm • Ari Jacob

The Jewish married life of a straight, religious homosexual

This is a session on Jewish continuity. But it’s not old-school. It’s a musical(ish) performance about how God made me gay, but Torah (sort of) made me straight (sort of). Not in a homophobic way. It’s about love, intimacy, and how I went from the Closet to the Chuppah. Not in a hippie way. Really, it’s a Kabbalistic journey through the divine masculine and feminine, and finding wholeness in contradiction. Or something like that.

Monday June 9 • 4pm – 5pm • Jacquie Seemann Charak

Schools, religion and the law: an unholy alliance

What is the state of ‘religious freedom’ in Australian schools? For example, may Jewish schools exclude non-Jewish students/staff? May an Anglican school force a Jewish student to attend chapel? How do religious schools deal with sexuality and dress codes? Religious schools juggle complicated questions – trying to avoid unlawful discrimination while also transmitting religious identity. We’ll explore what Australian Jewish schools can/can’t do compared to some other countries, and what the Religious Freedom Review (2018) had to say about these issues. We’ll also look at some examples of allegations of antisemitism in Australian schools, and what has happened to them.

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.

Limmud Oz 2020: The Queer Sessions

See below for details of the three LGBTIQ+ sessions at this year’s Limmud Oz. More details online.

Sunday, June 7 • 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Israel that you don’t know

Hen is an energetic activist and advocate for his people. As the son of Mizrahi Jewish refugees from Iraq and North Africa (Berber Jews from Tunisia), Hen has a unique and important voice in today’s discussions, sharing his family’s story as part of the 850,000 Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. As a young Israeli, Hen served in the IDF for almost five years as an openly gay commander. During his service as a lieutenant in the COGAT unit, he worked as an intermediary between the Israeli Defense Forces (the IDF), the Palestinian Authority, the UN, and many non-governmental organisations that operate in the West Bank.

SPEAKER
Hen Mazzig
Hen Mazzig is the son of Mizrahi Jewish refugees from Iraq and North Africa. He has written for the LA Times, NBC News, Haaretz, The Forward, Jewish Chronicle and International Business Times. Since 2016, he has worked as a freelance consultant to help pro-Israel and social justice causes, and has also volunteered as the head of the Transgender and Health department at the National Israeli LGBTQ Task Force “The Nir Kates Center” in Tel Aviv.

Monday, June 8 • 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Proud to be Jewish; proud to be gay

Jarod has had a long journey with his gayness. A longer one with his Judaism. His life has its share of conflict. Inner turmoil. Some painful memories. But the focus will be on the inspiring moments he has had on his Jewish gay journey. Ultimately, his life is a tale of unwavering love, positivity and understanding. Because he has waded through the darkness, the light shines twice as bright. And I’m here.

SPEAKERS
Jarod Rhine-Davis
Jarod is a Jewish gay man living his best life in Melbourne, and has a keen interest in bringing the Jewish and LGBTIQA+ communities together. He actively volunteers and as a job is involved in helping disadvantaged people to find employment. He is looking forward to sharing his story.

Adam Samuel
Adam Samuel is a Jewish/gay award-winning radio broadcaster and journalist, working with KIIS, GOLD, 3AW and JOY 94.9, and notably associate producing the Melbourne AIDS Conference. Adam is also a festival and event MC, and is often seen walking along Glenhuntly Rd with a really large cup of coffee!

Sunday, June 14 • 12:00pm – 1:00pm
All about Chava: the representation of queer Jewish women in film

From the lounge-rooms of Sydney, we bring you a taste of HaSodot, our grassroots film club catering to queer Jewish women. Join us as we watch and discuss the portrayal of queer Jewish women in contemporary film and television. We will examine the ways in which television and film represent (or misrepresent) our experiences and how this may impact our lives and identities.

SPEAKERS
Liora Baram

Shoshana Gottlieb
Shoshana is a writer and playlist maker based in sydney. She spends her time watching, reading about, and discussing film and television. her mother thinks she would’ve made a great doctor.

Limmud Oz 2014: the Queer sessions

Limmud Oz Logo 2014This year there are two Queer-related sessions at Limmud Oz 2014 in Melbourne.
Details below.

Sunday June 8
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Room: HB36

The Yids are all right: the hidden Jews behind British Pop
Gary Holzman
Arts | Other

It is a little known fact that a group of gay Jewish promoters had a substantial influence on the development of pop music in the late 50s and early 60s in Britain. In this session we will investigate the reasons for this phenomenon and also look in depth at the hidden Jewish promoters and songwriters behind such popular British pop and rock acts of the 60s and 70s as Cliff Richard, the Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Freddie & the Dreamers, Herman’s Hermits, The Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, Fleetwood Mac, The Hollies, 10cc, Procol Harum, T-Rex and many others. Viewing vintage film & video clips, analysing song lyrics and listening to a lot of great music are all part of this entertaining session.

Monday June 9:
5:15pm – 6:15pm
Room: H2.38

Orthogay – has anything changed for gay men and women in the orthodox world? Will it ever?
Shamir Caplan
Text, Tradition and Faith | Jewish Ideas

One of the most challenging issues of our time within the Orthodox community is how to deal with homosexuality. How to reconcile the Biblical texts with modern science’s understanding of sexuality? How has Orthodoxy responded to homosexuals within the community? This is surely a defining issue for Orthodoxy in the modern era. Come join us for a presentation and respectful and open discussion on this important topic.

A very Queer 2013 Limmud Fest (Nov 22-24)

The following three sessions, two by Gavi Ansara and one by Jonathan Barnett with Steven Holzman, offer a diverse range of Queer content at the 2013 Limmud Fest in Rutherford Park, Victoria, Nov 22-24.  View the current program here.

LGBTI Jews: living Torah lives in our communities
and Creating meaningful rituals to mark the life cycle events specific to LGBTI Jews within a halachic framework – Gavi Ansara

Gávi Ansara received the 2002 Keshet Leadership of the Year Award for founding an Orthodox gender and sexuality outreach project and more recently received the 2012 American Psychological Association Transgender Research Award. He is completing his PhD in Psychology while working at a senior level in national LGBTI health policy.

Jewish, gay and observant; impossible! – Jonathan Barnett with Steven Holzman

Jonathan is president and founder of Keshet Australia, Inc. Jonathan is on the boards of Temple Beth Israel and Progressive Judaism Victoria. He is active in the Progressive Trust and is a former treasurer and member of Keshet USA, former President of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Massachusetts and former technical director of the Friends of Israel Firefighters.

Limmud Oz 2012 – June 9-11: The Queer Sessions

Limmud Oz - Festival of Jewish Learning & Culture

Limmud Oz 2012 – June 9-11: The Queer Sessions

Full programme (PDF)

Sunday:
Time Description
5:30pm – 6:30pm A Progressive Alternative to Halakhic Deliberation
Community/Activism
Social issues
Philosophy
H2.20
The founding philosopher of the Reconstructionist movement Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan was fond of saying, “The past has a vote, not a veto.” Progressive Jews have often given the past a veto instead because we lack alternative tools for analysing religious and ritual problems from a contemporary perspective. This workshop will provide an introduction to Value-Based Decision Making and apply its teachings to the hot-button contemporary question of Jewish weddings for gay and lesbian couples.
Shoshana Kaminsky

Monday:
Time Description
10:45am – 11:45am Pride and Tolerance in Jerusalem
Israel
H1.25
Jerusalem is the most religious city in the world with an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender) centre. Learn more about the struggle for equality of the Jerusalem Open House, the LGBT center in Jerusalem – a small organization that withstood unprecedented attack by Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders.
Noa Sattath
9:30am – 10:30am
Homosexuality and Judaism
Social issues
H2.35
Throughout history, bigotry cloaked in religious idealism has been at the heart of campaigns against minority groups of all backgrounds including gay people, and sexual orientation continues to be one of the most contentious issues facing society even a decade into the 21st century. But is there an authentic view supported by Judaism? Join Rabbi Yaakov Glasman as he sensitively addresses this most important question facing our community today.
Yaakov Glasman