Farewell to Dayenu | AJN

The Australian Jewish News Sydney edition
Friday, March 23, 2012

Farewell to Dayenu

After a decade of association with Sydney’s Jewish gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex group, former president Roy Freeman looks back on the last 10 years as he sets off for a new life in Israel.

AS I pack my belongings to make aliyah at the end of this month, I can’t help but look back at my move to Sydney just over a decade ago.when I moved here from London in 2001, I was still mostly in the closet. I was out to some of my friends, but had not told my parents I was gay. I knew back then that I wasn’t ready to tell them and that they weren’t ready to hear it, let alone accept it.

Roy Freeman (right) at last year's Mardi Gras
Photo: Lara Hotz Roy Freeman (right) at last year’s Mardi Gras.

In reality, I led two lives, one with my partner and friends, and one for my family and job. Moving to Sydney, I knew nobody here aside from my partner. We wanted to meet people and I suggested we try and meet other gay and lesbian Jews. I had been involved in the Jewish Gay and Lesbian Group (JGLG) in London, where I had made some very good friends, so I searched and found Dayenu. On the night I arrived, we went to our first Dayenu event – a farewell party for one of the group’s organisers who was moving overseas.

The following Mardi Gras, I marched with Dayenu’s float in the parade. It was the third time Dayenu had participated. What an amazing experience it was! To this day, I have a photo on my shelf of me and my partner taken during that parade and it still puts a smile on face.

After that magical night I marched every year with Dayenu and was very disappointed in 2006 when no one stepped up to organise a float. Rather than march that year, I watched the parade for the first time, feeling a bit sad that there was no Jewish contingent. At the start of 2007, a friend sent an email around looking for people to help organise a float and I jumped at the chance.

Together with a group of guys, all called David, we built a float, designed and printed T-shirts and proudly marched up Oxford Street again with around 40 people.it was an amazing feeling to have actually helped organise the float and to see how many people were willing to come along and show their support. I have kept a copy of the article published in The AJN that year, and I remember how unnerving I found it at the time to have my name and face published. I still wasn’t completely at ease with my sexuality back then, although I had come out to my parents. They hadn’t taken the news well, so I sent them a copy of the article, hoping that they could understand how proud I was.

It was from there that I started organising regular Dayenu events. At first, monthly Shabbat dinners that started small, but over the years grew to 20-25 people each month. We also started to celebrate the major yamin tovim as a group, holding annual seders, Chanukah parties, Rosh Hashanah meals etc. Many Dayenu members are not native Sydneysiders and do not have any nearby family to go to for the yamim tovim, so Dayenu has become their adopted family.

In the years since 2007, we have started a Dayenu Facebook group and have attracted more than 200 members, and our Yahoo mailing list includes over 150 people. We held our first AGM in October 2010, and have had a series of very successful annual Mardi Gras Shabbat services and dinners at Emanuel Synagogue, which have filled the hall to capacity. The number of people joining us in the parade has grown consistently each year, now reaching more than 100.

Dayenu has become more visible, both in the GLBTI (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex) community and within the Jewish community. Since it began in 2000, it has shown the wider community that GLBTI Jews exist, and that we are proud of our religion and our sexuality. We have also worked hard to better integrate GLBTI Jews into the wider Jewish community, and make it a more accepting and welcoming place for us.

At this month’s Mardi Gras dinner, I was incredibly touched by the number of people who told me how Dayenu had been instrumental in their coming out. Meeting other GLBTI Jews gave them the strength to accept their sexuality, to come out to their family and friends and to live the life that they wanted to live. It takes considerable strength to come out to family when you know that they may be shocked by the news. It is well documented how rejection by family can have a devastating effect on young gay and lesbian people: tragically, some attempt suicide. It can take years for some families to accept their son or daughter’s sexuality, but thankfully most families, like mine, eventually realise that our lives and relationships can be equally as rewarding as heterosexual ones.

Dayenu has inspired me so much and I have met so many amazing and inspiring people. Many Dayenu members have shared their incredible stories with me; stories which all too often include rejection, hardship and abuse. Many explained how Dayenu brought hope and strength to their lives.

Farewell to Dayenu

So it is with a heavy heart that I now step down as president of Dayenu as part of my move to Israel. I am hopeful that others will step forward to ensure that Dayenu continues to be a beacon of hope for GLBTI Jews.

A Jewish flavour to Mardi Gras | AJN

9 Mar 2012
The Australian Jewish News Sydney edition
CASSILEE KAHN

A Jewish flavour to Mardi Gras

MORE than 100 members and supporters of same-sex Jewish advocacy group Dayenu marched to the beat of Havenu Shalom Aleichem, “Peace be upon you”, joining 140 floats and more than 9000 people in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Same-sex Jewish advocacy group Dayenu expressed their Jewish identity when they participated in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras last weekend.

Dayenu marchers expressed their Jewish identity by dressing according to the theme of Purim, singing and dancing to the Hebrew lyrics while they followed their float, which was adorned with a Star of David.

Dayenu president Roy Freeman said the group’s attendance at the Mardi Gras was the biggest in recent years and conveyed a wide-reaching message.

“It sends a message to the Jewish community that we’re here and to the gay and lesbian community that there’s a Jewish gay and lesbian community as well,” Freeman, who will make aliyah explained.

“It sends a very powerful message that we’re proud of who we are and it doesn’t matter what anyone says, we exist and we’re here and we’re very excited to be part of Mardi Gras.”

Members from Jewish youth groups Habonim and Netzer participated in the parade to demonstrate their support for Dayenu.

“I think it’s really important that later this month, we support this community and all they do. They’re great and they’re vibrant, and as a youth movement we’re really proud to support them, we support equality for everyone,” said Netzer NSW president Gemma Hilton.


ajn 20120309 p5 A Jewish flavour to Mardi Gras

Rabbi’s homophobic comments provoke criticism, petition | Gay News Network

Rabbi’s homophobic comments provoke criticism, petition | Gay News Network.

Mixed reaction to marriage policy | AJN

9 Dec 2011
The Australian Jewish News Sydney edition
GARETH NARUNSKY

Mixed reaction to marriage policy

AUSTRALIAN Labor’s adoption of same-sex marriage as party policy at its conference last weekend has elicited a mix of reactions from the Jewish community.

Scott Whitmont and Christopher Whitmont-stein
Scott Whitmont (left) and Christopher Whitmont-stein were part of Australia’s first faith-sanctioned same-sex commitment ceremony.

The resolution passed with the caveat that Labor MPS would be allowed a conscience vote on the issue, which may make it difficult for the legislation to pass when it is brought before the House.

Scott Whitmont, who with partner Christopher Whitmont-stein was part of the first Australian faithsanctioned same-sex commitment ceremony at Emanuel Synagogue in September 2008, said the resolution was still a positive one.

“I think that any step that moves us towards recognition of the basic human right of allowing same-sex couples to have the same legal recognition as heterosexual couples, is a good thing,” he said.

J4ME (Jews for Marriage Equality) founder and Dayenu president Roy Freeman attended an equal marriage rally on Saturday, timed to coincide with the debate.

“There was an amazing atmosphere at the rally, with the largest turn-out of any marriage rally so far,” he said. “There was a real sense of achievement, but also of frustration with the conscience vote decision. The Labor Party have given with one hand, but taken away with the other.”

Union for Progressive Judaism executive director Steve Denenberg said there was no reason for Australian law to limit or discriminate against the civil or legal rights of any individual or group.

“The UPJ together with the members of the Moetzah, the Rabbinic Council of Progressive Rabbis of Australia, Asia and New Zealand, support marriage equality under Australian law and welcome the decision of the Australian Labor Party to do the same,” he said.

The Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia (ORA) continues to oppose any change in legislation.

In a statement, the ORA said it intended no discrimination towards the gay community, but wished to uphold the sanctity of marriage.

“The institution of marriage and family life, as defined and practised for thousands of years as between a man and a woman, a father and a mother, respectively, is far too important and essential to the bedrock of society and civilisation as we know it to be undermined by those who presume to redefine its essence,” ORA said.

Ilan Kidron supports Marriage Equality

Lead singer of The Potbelleez, Ilan Kidron, has declared his support for marriage equality: “I believe that everybody should be able to make the same decisions about marriage. As long as same-sex couples are denied the right of marriage, their relationships will be considered second-rate and they and their families will be pushed aside. Not so long ago, the union of rich and poor, black and white, was outlawed. So why, when our society has come so far, do we still not let love be love? The Government must do the right thing and allow all Australian couples to enjoy equal opportunities under Federal law. We are a so-called free country. People are people. Love is love.”

Ilan Kidron
Ilan Kidron, lead singer of Potbelleez

Roy Freeman, founder of J4ME (the Jewish Community supporting Marriage Equality), welcomed Ilan’s support. “It’s great to see high-profile members of the Jewish community showing their support for marriage equality. Many people only hear the one-sided views of a small number of Orthodox Rabbis who continue to deride homosexuality. Thankfully those Rabbis are a small (but vocal) minority. The majority of our community supports civil rights, including marriage equality for same-sex couples.”