Keshet Rabbis is an organization of Conservative/Masorti

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

s, cofounded in 2003 by Menachem Creditor, which holds that

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, lesbian, bisexual and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

s should be embraced as full, open members of all Conservative congregations and institutions. Based on its understanding of Jewish sources and Jewish values, it asserts that

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

Jews may fully participate in community life and achieve positions of professional and lay leadership. The organization was established in order to connect gay-friendly Conservative rabbis with one another, to serve as a collective voice of gay-friendly Conservative rabbis, and to offer a point of contact for Conservative/Masorti Jews who are themselves LGBT or who care about LGBT issues. Keshet Rabbis provides LGBT Jews and those who love and support them with the means to contact a Conservative rabbi for positive and sympathetic advice and information. The mandate of the organization's rabbis is to provide judgment-free support and advice to those who approach them in the following areas: a listening and sympathetic ear, personal counseling in absolute privacy, halakhic queries, ceremonies of interest to the LGBT community, congregations that are already gay-friendly, referrals to helpful resources within the greater Jewish community and all similar matters. In addition to rabbis,

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

s are joining to give support in a similar manner. Further there is now a move towards Keshet congregations.

Status

Keshet Rabbis is not an official arm of the

Rabbinical Assembly The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, a ...

and is not endorsed by it; rather, it is a free association of rabbis who are members of the Rabbinical Assembly and who subscribe to Keshet-Rabbis' rationale and objectives. The organization's website was effectively launched on June 27, 2005, and soon after its creation over 100 rabbis had joined it.

References

External links

Archives of the Keshet Rabbis Official website
{{Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism outreach Conservative rabbis LGBT Jewish organizations Organizations established in 2003 LGBT theologians International LGBT organizations

Status

See also

References

External links