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April 15, 2005/Nisan 6 5765, Volume 57, No. 33
UJC seeks bridge to lesbians, gays
JOANNE PALMER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - In many ways, the UJC Pride in Israel Mission, scheduled for mid-August, will be a standard United Jewish Communities trip to Israel.
The group will look at Israeli archeology, sample Israeli wine, tour Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, celebrate Shabbat and be briefed on the political situation there.
It will learn about "the broad set of services being provided overseas using federation dollars," said Stuart Kurlander of Washington, the mission's national chairman.
But like other special interest groups, it also will learn about areas of particular importance to its members. In this case, that's the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered, or LGBT, community in Israel.
After the mission, travelers will be able to extend their stays in Israel. One recommended activity is the 10-day Jerusalem World Pride 2005 festival, culminating in a march through the capital.
"It's groundbreaking," Kurland said of the mission. "It has the potential to lead to an increased involvement by Jewish members of the LGBT community. It's really about the engagement of this part of our community with all that we do within our federation, with establishing a bond and a shared sense of purpose."
Organizers of the LGBT mission, the first one UJC has sponsored, hope to nurture connections between North American and Israeli gays and lesbians, and to strengthen participants' bonds to each other and to the federation system.
Registration for the mission has just begun, so organizers don't know how many people to expect. They do know that the rabbi-in-residence will be Steve Greenberg, the gay Orthodox rabbi who appeared in the documentary "Trembling Before G-d."
Another participant will be U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).
Frank, who is Jewish and openly gay, said he has been to Israel many times and has met often with gay and lesbian Israelis.
"I've also worked quietly with the Israeli government" on gay and lesbian issues, he said.
"This is something the left doesn't appreciate: The Israeli government is giving asylum to gay Palestinians," Frank said. "These are people who would be killed by the Palestinians just for being gay. They're allowed to live in Israel."
Frank thinks Israelis have done a better job in some ways than Americans in integrating gays and lesbians into the larger culture.
"The Israel Defense Force has openly gay and lesbian members, and it hasn't lost any of its fighting ability. You can hardly argue that being gay or lesbian makes the IDF an unfit force," he said.
Greenberg thinks the mission gives gays and lesbians an opportunity to reconnect to a tradition many feel has rejected them, but where they still yearn to feel connected.
"This is an opportunity for people who still find themselves spiritual or faithful in some way, or who remember when they were, or who feel a connection to Israel or to Jewishness in general, to do what pilgrims do - to go to Israel for personal renewal and for a sense of reconnection to the land of Israel, to the people of Israel, and, for many of us who will be on this mission, to the God of Israel," he said.
"We're simply not going to be excluded anymore. We're going to insist that we have a place at the table," he continued.
The festival includes interfaith seminars and workshops. Yale University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem are sponsoring a two-day academic conference during the festival on issues of homosexuality and religion.
Call the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, 480-634-4900, ext. 1111, or visit the travel page on www.ujc.org.
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