Israeli LGBTQ visit here

JACOB HAAS

The Vancouver Jewish community recently hosted Gal Deutsch and Efrat Rotem, members of an Israeli LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) delegation, which traveled to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Deutsch and Rotem split off from the group to come here, while the rest of the delegation remained in Seattle.

The delegation includes representatives of three organizations, under the umbrella of AILO, the Alliance of Israeli LGBTQ Educational Organizations: Israel Gay Youth (IGY), Hoshen (the LGBTQ Educational Centre of Israel) and Tehila (parents, families and friends of LGBTQ people).

Deutsch is programs director of IGY, which operates as a support service for LGBTQ youth in more than 25 cities and towns throughout Israel; Rotem is the chair of Hoshen. Their main educational activity is to share their own personal story in classrooms, military units, police departments, community centres and other venues in order to break down stereotypes.

In Vancouver, the delegates visited Qmunity, an organization that serves as a resource centre for the queer community, King David High School, a group of LGBTQ Jewish community members, as well as Hillel students at the University of British Columbia. They also participated in a round-table discussion with representatives from many Jewish organizations, hosted by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, and spent Kabbalat Shabbat with Or Shalom Synagogue.

At the round table, when asked about Hoshen’s mission, Rotem said it was “to change Israeli society.” While this response was met by some laughter and the comment “it will be easier to bring Mashiach,” Rotem said, “I think that changing Israeli society is a big goal, but ... we do have a purpose of changing Israeli society in order [for it] to be equal for LGBT people, for queer people, but also being able to live differently there. We don’t have to be [the] same and equal, we need to be different and equal.”

Rotem is a new rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College and reflected on how Jews pray daily for the Messiah in the Amidah. About how she and her peers are trying to help create a world that’s fit for Mashiach, she said, “... we actively try to change the situation, one person at a time, one class at a time, one unit in the army at a time, one police department at a time, one [school] principal at a time. The people all create ripples.”

Before Kabbalat Shabbat, Deutsch and Rotem had a drink with UBC Hillel students at the Pit – a true cultural experience. They then made their way to Or Shalom, which has an active and engaged queer community. Over the past year, the synagogue’s LGBTQ committee has hosted several Kabbalat Shabbat and holiday events. Each event draws approximately 40 people, including Or Shalom regulars and others from around the Lower Mainland seeking an inclusive, welcoming space.

The Kabbalat Shabbat service attended by Rotem and Deutsch was led by Or Shalom Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan and Charles Kaplan. It included music and poetry by Jewish LGBTQ artists, such as Edward Field and Debbie Friedman, and, during the evening’s potluck dinner, Deutsch and Rotem shared their personal narratives and those of their respective organizations.

“We are here to tell about the full reality, as I see it, as I feel it, as my organization feels it,” said Deutsch about the North American visits. “There are places that LGBTQ feel more comfortable and have some more rights and they might feel as [an] equal part of society and we do have Pride in Tel Aviv, but there is lots of life outside of Tel Aviv ... and we’re here to talk about those challenges. One of the main goals of this delegation is to share and hear from others. We are here to share and to learn from others.”

Deutsch added later in the discussion, “Here [and in Israel] there are the same issues within the Jewish LGBTQ community. In San Francisco and Los Angeles, we have been to LGBTQ synagogues! And here, it feels like we are sharing the same dilemma about being Jewish and being part of the LGBTQ community.”

When asked what motivates her, Rotem said, “I’m trying to be optimistic, I’m trying to do what I can in my community and be an advocate for democracy as part of what we do in Hoshen. We believe that, when we stand in front of the class, when we are given the opportunity and the privilege, we are responsible also for other minorities, we are responsible for the understanding that democracy is not to like the person who is like me, who thinks like me, who lives like me, it’s the other way around.”

Jacob Haas is program manager at Or Shalom Synagogue and a member of Moishe House Vancouver.

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