Everyone is Created in the Image of the Divine

Finding Space for LGTQ Jews in the Modern Orthodox Community

As our modern secular understanding of sexual and gender identity evolves, how should the Modern Orthodox Jewish community react? What do Jewish law and modern Rabbinic leaders teach us about how to relate and respond to the needs of LGTQ Jews in our midst?  Is it permissible to have a gay or gender queer identity as an observant Jew? Is there a path for Gay/Queer Jews to find love, relationship and family within the context of halakha? This course aims to honestly address the challenges and pain facing orthodox Gay/Queer Jews and bring to light those more open voices in the Modern Orthodox/National Religious camp who are grappling with these issues today.

PD Course Hours and How to Take the Course:

“Everyone is Created in the Image of the Divine“ is a professional development course designed to sensitize educators in Orthodox middle and upper school settings to issues facing their students as their sexuality emerges. The course includes ten live interactive webinars with Pardes Course Facilitator Rahel Berkovits. Each webinar is 1.5 hours and requires half an hour of pre-study before the webinar to learn the sources that will be discussed. All sources are provided in the original Hebrew with English translations. The course is available to schools or central agencies for community based professional development groups.

Course LGTQ by Rahel Berkovits (click to see the course outline)

About the Facilitator: 

Rahel Berkovits is a senior faculty member at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, where she has been teaching Mishnah, Talmud and halakha for over twenty years. Rahel lectures widely in both Israel and abroad especially on topics concerning women and Jewish law and Jewish sexual ethics. She is the Halakhic Editor and a writer for Hilkhot Nashim the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance’s Halakhic Source-guide Series, recently published by Koren Publishing. Rahel is a founding member of Congregation Shirah Hadasha, a halakhic partnership Synagogue, and serves on their halakha committee. In June 2015, Rahel received Rabbinic Ordination from Rabbis Herzl Hefter and Daniel Sperber.