Op-ed: Helping to Heal Religiously Created Wounds in the Jewish World

[Shana A]

Op-ed: Helping to Heal Religiously Created Wounds in the Jewish World
While being raised Jewish, no one told this rabbi she could never be a rabbi — and it made all the difference.
BY Debra Kolodny
December 05 2014 4:00 AM ET

http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/12/05/op-ed-helping-heal-religiously-created-wounds-jewish-world

In the early 1980s I found it remarkably easy to come out. I was lucky.  Police weren't raiding the local gay bar. My appearance didn't trigger anger toward lesbians (nobody imagined I could be bisexual back then). I got heckled when I held my girlfriend's hand, but I consciously chose to defy the heteropatriarchy, so I got what I bargained for.

I also proudly identified as a social, political, and cultural Jew, but I wasn't raised in a religious home.

Today I am a rabbi. So you might wonder why I consider myself fortunate to have been raised by secular parents.

[gennee]

Interesting article. I was raised in a home that taught me that there is a God. We weren't religious but we did have a sense that God was in control. Each individual has a course in our lives that we only can run.  Some of us are not encumbered with a lot of excess baggage so to speak. I did a project about cross dressing and Christianity using Hebrew and Greek texts. Nothing was ever mentioned about a person's sexuality or gender expression.

Looking at it I believe God wants a relationship with us regardless of our gender identity and sexuality. This is how I live my life and encourage others in their walk.