This year, the themes of Sukkot – both the fragility of human life and the communal strength of a truly open tent – have an especially painful resonance. I am sure you share my sadness and outrage that in the past month five teenage boys took their own lives due to homophobic bullying and harassment (and another in July). The loss of a single life is cause for heartbreak. Five teen suicides in just one month, however, is a crisis. This is a wake-up call that something must change and that the Jewish community must not remain silent.
Please see the pledge we are circulating below and sign on if you wish to make this public commitment. We’ve also posted a list of Ten Things You Can Do Today to Strengthen Our Community. Let’s send a message to everyone in our communities that we will not stand by in the face of suffering and injustice. Our goal is to gather 18,000 pledges by the end of the calendar year; we will publish the initial signatories on October 11, National Coming Out Day. This is a pledge we are asking of all Jewish community members, youth and adults, so please forward widely.
B’Shalom,
Idit Klein
Executive Director, Keshet
Do Not Stand Idly By: A Jewish Community Pledge to Save Lives
As members of a tradition that sees each person as created in the divine image, we respond with anguish and outrage at the spate of suicides brought on by homophobic bullying and intolerance.
We hereby commit to ending homophobic bullying or harassment of any kind in our synagogues, schools, organizations, and communities. As a signatory, I pledge to speak out when I witness anyone being demeaned for their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. I commit myself to do whatever I can to ensure that each and every person in my community is treated with dignity and respect.
Campaign launched by Keshet in partnership with:
Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community
Adas Israel Congregation
The Adventure Rabbi Program
ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado
The Anshe Emet Synagogue, Chicago, IL
Bay Area Masorti
Be’chol Lashon
Beth Chayim Chadashim, Los Angeles, CA
Congregation Bet Tikvah, Pittsburgh, PA
The Bronfman Youth Fellowships (BYFI)
California Faith for Equality
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation
Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR)
Cleveland Jewish LGBTQ2A Inclusion Project
Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston
Congregation Am Tikva, Boston, MA
Congregation Bet Haverim, Atlanta, GA
Congregation Bet Tikvah, Pittsburgh, PA
Congregation Beth Ahavah, Philadelphia, PA
Congregation Beth Elohim, Brooklyn, NY
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, New York, NY
Congregation Beth El, Berkeley, California
Congregation Beth El Binah, Dallas, TX
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, New York, NY
Congregation Kol Ami, West Hollywood, CA
Congregation Netivot Shalom, Berkeley, CA
Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, San Francisco, CA
The Curriculum Initiative
The Dobkin Family Foundation
Gay and Lesbian Yeshiva Day School Alumni Association (GLYDSA)
Gay and Lesbian Outreach and Engagement Program (GLOE)/Washington DC Jewish Community Center
Hebrew College
He’bro
Hazon
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Hillel at Stanford
Institute for Judaism & Sexual Orientation, Hebrew Union College-JIR
InterfaithFamily.com
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
JALSA – The Jewish Alliance for Law & Social Action
Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance
JESNA – The Jewish Education Service of North America
JewishBoston.com
Jewish Communal Leadership Program, University of Michigan
The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
Jewish Gay and Lesbian Group, London, UK
Jewish Gay Network of Michigan
Jewish Milestones
The Jewish Multiracial Network
Jewish Organizing Initiative
Jewish Outreach Institute
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
The Jewish Theological Seminary
Jewish Transitions
Jewish Women’s Archive
Jews United for Justice
Joshua Venture Group
Judaism Your Way, Denver, CO
Jumpstart
Just Congregations of the Union for Reform Judaism
JQ International
JQYouth
KOACH
Kehilat Hadar, New York, NY
Kehilla Community Synagogue, Piedmont, CA
Kehilla School
Kolenu, Seattle’s Young Adult GLBTQ Group
LGBT Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation, San Francisco, CA
Lippman Kanfer Family Foundation
Ma’yan
Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh
Mechon Hadar
Moishe House
Moishe House Boston: Kavod Jewish Social Justice House
The Morningstar Foundation
The Natan Fund
Nathan Cummings Foundation
Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue, Jamaica Plain, MA
Nehirim: GLBT Jewish Culture and Spirituality
New Jersey’s Lesbian & Gay Havurah
North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY)
NUJLS: The National Union of Jewish Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Students
Orthodykes NY
Progressive Jewish Alliance
Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical School of Hebrew College
The Rainbow Center, Atlanta, GA
RAVSAK: The Jewish Community Day School Network
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Repair the World
Rockville Open House
ROI Community
Romemu
Ruth Allen Ziegler Foundation
The Samuel Bronfman Foundation
Shalom Amigos, Mexico
ShefaNetwork: The Conservative/Masorti Movement Dreaming from Within
Storahtelling
SVARA
TBS Keshet, Temple Beth Shalom, Needham, MA
Trembling Before G-d Outreach Project
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ)
United Synagogue Youth (USY)
University of Washington Hillel
UpStart Bay Area
The Youth and Gender Media Project
World Congress of GLBT Jews
A Wider Bridge
Women of Reform Judaism
Zeek Media, Inc.
Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
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