Shabbat Gathering: Happy Pride!

Dear Chevrei, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:

Zoom
Meeting ID: 883 8469 4181
Password: 822665
Phone: +1 312 626 6799

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Here we go.

June is Pride month and I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now.
Congregation Shaarei Shamayim is the Inclusive Jewish Community in Madison. That’s more than a description. It’s a promise and an obligation. For Jews who look for inclusion, we can be a home, but that only works if members open their arms and their hearts.

I believe we need to be more than people in the pews. We need to welcome and be an ally to people who need a synagogue. Jeanne and I have been thinking about putting on a program focused on how to be better allies to the Queer community. To be better allies, we need to learn, but we must act as well and our program will cover both. We'll let you know more as our plans develop.

In the meantime, I’m offering you a prayer for Pride month. It’s a prayer I found on Ritual Well, a Reconstruction resource for new prayers and new ways to pray.

Pride Shabbat Blessing from an Ally
By Sara Stock Mayo

Blessed are you Adonai our God
Who made us in your image
Which knows no race nor gender
nor sexual identity or orientation
Blessed is the word pride
Which is the consciousness
of one’s own dignity
To see oneself as completely whole in living
as they were created to be
Blessed is joy and pleasure in the physical, spiritual, emotional connection we feel
in relationship to another
Blessed is knowing and being and celebrating
Blessed is allyship
Truly seeing someone just as they are
And how they’ve told you they want to be seen
Blessed is allowing ourselves to be led
Blessed is allowing ourselves to follow
Blessed is the ability to transform, to allow for movement and possibility
To create and re-create who and what feels most authentic today and tomorrow and into the future knowing that the possibilities are endless
Blessed are you Adonai, who made me in your image which knows no form
Blessed is limitlessness

Everyone deserves to be safe, respected, and loved. Everyone.

And may it be for all of us a blessing.

See you tonight!
Gud Shabbes!

All my love,
brian.

PS

Morrie Markoff, Jewish supercentenarian and oldest man in US, dies at 110 - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Markoff became a prolific blogger after 105, titling one post about his long life “Bashert,” Yiddish for “fate.”

Jewish Telegraphic AgencyAndrew Silow-Carroll

Barbra Streisand is known for her songs and movies. But this proud Jew is also a powerhouse philanthropist. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

The Streisand Foundation has poured tens of millions of dollars into more than 2,000 causes ranging from environmental protection to women’s health. She’s also given to Israel.

Jewish Telegraphic AgencyLarry Luxner

Did Elaine May disappear — or is that just another Hollywood myth?

“Miss May Does Not Exist” is a comprehensive, but often frustrating, account of the life of genius Elaine May.

The ForwardPJ Grisar

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