Programs at the Open House

Torah Queeries cover
Torah Queeries cover

Join the Jerusalem Open House for an evening of Queer Torah with Rabbi Steven Greenberg

in celebration of the Israel release of Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible. 

Rabbi Steven Greeberg, a contributor to Torah Queeries, will be teaching Torah and discussing the book. A question and answer session will follow.

This will be a Hebrew language event. (Questions can be addressed in Hebrew or English.)
Tuesday, February 9
7:30 PM 
at the Jerusalem Open House, Hasoreg 2
Copies of Torah Queeries will be for sale 


Torah Queeries brings together some of the world’s leading rabbis, scholars, and writers to interpret the Torah through a "bent lens". It is an incredibly rich collection that unites the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight-allied writers, including some of the most central figures in contemporary American Judaism. All bring to the table unique methods of reading and interpreting that allow the Torah to speak to modern concerns of sexuality, identity, gender, and LGBT life. Torah Queeries (NYU Press, 2009) is a project of Jewish Mosaic, edited by Gregg Drinkwater, Joshua Lesser and David Shneer, with a foreword by Judith Plaskow.


Steven Greenberg is an Orthodox rabbi, ordained at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Since 1985 he has served as a senior educator for CLAL, a think tank, leadership training institute, and resource center. Rabbi Greenberg is the author of Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition, which won the 2005 Koret Jewish Book Award. He is currently rabbi-in-residence at Hazon, a leading Jewish environmental organization, and Keshet, a grassroots organization dedicated to LGBT inclusion in the Jewish community. Rabbi Greenberg contributed several chapters to Torah Queeries. 


Reviews:

"The diverse group of scholars and rabbis who have contributed to Torah Queeries ask us to bring the whole of our selves — our imaginations, bodies, and senses — to Torah. They collectively demonstrate that every parashah (Torah portion) can speak to us as embodied, conflicted, desiring selves and as cognitive individuals." -Mara Benjamin, Sh´ma

"With Torah Queeries, no longer is the LGBT community an outsider in the Bible. In each parasha, in every holiday, gender bending exists. ...It should appeal to those who wish to read the Torah with an open mind and the willingness to look at the words from 3,000 years ago with new, and often jarring, perspective. ...This is a volume that I would describe as a must for the Jewish bookshelf." -Rabbi Andrew Sacks, Jerusalem Post

A labor of intellectual rigor, social justice, and personal passions, Torah Queeries is an exciting and important contribution to the project of democratizing Jewish communities, and an essential guide to understanding the intersection of queerness and Jewishness.

GET INVOLVED!!!  There are a number of programs, activities, and ways to get involved at the Open House.  In addition to providing a safe and open community center for members of the LGBTQ community to enjoy, the JOH houses a multitude of support groups and activities from youth groups, women’s groups, an English-speakers group, Shabbat services, and the Open Clinic providing free HIV testing.   There are a number of ways to get involved and to join the LGBTQ community in Jerusalem, so do it! 


Yotam Shlomo: Community Coordinator at JOH
programming@joh.org.il

02-6250502 ext. 144

Soccer for Everybody

 

Always thought soccer is only for husky straight men?

It´s been a while since you broke a sweat?

Now YOU can have fun playing soccer, without worrying about how good you are !

The Open House Soccer Team, the oldest team in the House, is welcoming new players.

We play with boys and girls in an open and non-violent atmosphere

You´re all welcome to come have a look, and try us out, to see (all the hotties working out in Gan Sacher) and be seen (as an awesome soccer-pro), Fridays 16:00, Gan Sacher. Look for the orange cones.

Details: 0523-725362

 

English speakers friendly

 

Teen and Young Adult Groups

 

The Teen group - for folks aged 15-18 - meets every Wednesday with instructors Ruti and Yotam, 17:30 at the Open House.

The Young Adult group - for ages 18-23 - meets every Thursday with instructors Shachar and Lital, 20:00 at the Open House.

Anyone can come for a one-on-one with one of the guides, or visit our forum (in collaboration with Igi).

So people - new or old, younger or older, GLBT or puzzled - come on over, we´re right here for you.

B.E.N.Z team, at the Open House.

Notice: during September-October the Teen and Young Adult Groups do not meet regularly.

For further information: teenteam@joh.org.il

 

Most activites are in Hebrew

 

Women´s Group

The Women´s Group wishes to be a social gathering space, a place for discussions, activities and meeting new people.

This group is open to whomever feels comfortable being a part of it, aged 20+

 for information or joining the mailing list: programming@joh.org.il

 

Most activites are in Hebrew 

 

Queer Yoga

Every Monday at 21:30 we meet for a Yoga lesson at the Open House.

New members are welcome !

Recommended contribution - 20 NIS, or however you can and wish to give.

English speakers friendly