I am a Pride Parade rabbi.
I have been attending the pride parades in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for over 20 years.
I am religious. I wear a kippah and tzitzit. I strictly observe the rules of Shabbat, of prayer, of kashrut, of tzedaka. And I am straight.
But I am a Pride rabbi.
I am a Pride rabbi because I believe, more than anything else, that every single human being- no matter their sexual orientation, no matter their gender identity - every human being was created in the image of God.
As the years have gone on, I've been happy to see that I am less and less alone. There are more and more religious people who understand that the parade is for us, too. Because it is for every single person who believes that every human being was created equal, and that every human being deserves dignity and deserves to feel loved by Judaism and our tradition. More and more of those religious people are showing up today, and we are saying to the LGBTQ+ community: We are here to support you.
As we enter into Pride month this year, I would like to call on more religious leaders, more religious Jews, to show up. We have seen an incredible change in the traditional communities and the religious communities in Israel in the last number of years. Every week we see images of religious families proudly standing by their children as they enter into a holy and committed relationship with somebody of the same sex. We see how people accept their children for who they are.
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There are more and more religious people who understand that the parade is for us, too
(Photo: Elena Rostunova / Shutterstock)
In this case, our leaders have not been the ones to lead. On the issue of LGBTQ+ acceptance, society has been way ahead of the curve. But this year, I'm calling on more educators and more rabbis to join the pioneers who have already been out there — Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, non-denominational — to join every Jew in saying: "Yes, we believe that above all, every human being should feel okay with who they are. Nobody should feel like they should be ashamed for how God created them".
This is the year for us to say, in a world of people trying to hurt us for being Jews and being Israelis, Judaism is about embracing our shared humanity. This year, I call on educators and rabbis: embrace people for who they are and say, it is God who created you as you are.
Baruch She'asani Kirtzono — God created all of us according to God's will. Let us embrace God's will, and let us be proud of it.
- Arie Hasit is the Associate Dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary