'Tis the Season


Chanukah falls around the same time as Christmas, leading many people to believe the holidays are of equal religious significance.

However, unlike Christmas, Chanukkah is more a celebration of revolution, and is not considered a very important religious holiday.

Happy Hanukkah!

Congregation Segregation


This week leaders in the Jewish Conservative movement voted to approve the ordination of gays and lesbians and same-sex commitment ceremonies.

"The mekhitza is a divider between men and women in a synagogue. Sometimes it is simply a physical separation between the two sexes, such as a room divider or curtain. Sometimes the women's section is in a balcony."

"The reason for a mekhitza is to provide the men with a greater opportunity to focus on their prayers, rather than on the attractive women in the room."

Homosexual orientation is not a sin in Judaism, but homosexual acts are. Male-male sex is forbidden by the Torah. Lesbian sex is not prohibited by the Torah, but is generally considered prohibited as "licentiousness."

The World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews
Trembling Before G-d
Nu? Yenta
OrthoGays.com
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah