Discussing Jewish LGBTQ+ pride with the world’s first openly gay Orthodox rabbi

"What makes change is respectfully and humbly staying and not being silent."
Rabbi Steven Greenberg. (Fábio Seixo/Wikimedia Commons)

Rabbi Steven Greenberg is the first Orthodox rabbi to come out as gay. He is the founding director of Eshel, a non-profit organization that helps LGBTQ+ Jews in the Orthodox community. Eshel is sponsoring a panel at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival this year after a screening of the film Marry Me However, about the phenomenon of Orthodox Jews who marry spouses of the opposite gender, despite being gay or lesbian themselves.

On this week’s episode of Bonjour Chai, our weekly current affairs podcast, Rabbi Greenberg joins to discuss his coming-out story, the continued struggles of queer folk in the Orthodox community and the making of the new documentary film.

What we talked about:

  1. Watch the trailer for Marry Me However at tjff.com
  2. Learn more about Eshel at eshelonline.org

Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold, Melissa Lantsman and Ilana Zackon. Michael Fraiman is the producer. Andrew Goulet is the technical producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network.

Author

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