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"Teach us to feel proud of all of our identities": Time and space in an American queer Jewish liturgy.

Authors :
Ben‐Lulu, Elazar
Source :
Religion Compass. Mar2024, Vol. 18 Issue 3, p1-11. 11p.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Since the late 1960s, the American Jewish community has worked to find creative ways to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Queer+ (LGBTQ+) people in community practices and Jewish liturgy. The pioneering egalitarian denomination was and remains the Reform Jewish Movement, which promotes and supports gender equality and sexual diversity. This paper proposes a typology of queer Jewish liturgy based on classification into two categories: time and space. By exploring these specific categories, the texts expose a bipolar relationship between LGBTQ+s and divine individuals, LGBTQ+s and heterosexual/cisgender individuals, and LGBTQ+s and themselves. By analyzing particular queer prayers, I argue that this liturgy, created by American Jewish clergy, is characterized by inherent structural contradictions, which reflect tendencies and changes not only in non‐halachic Jewish communities but also in queer ideology and gay politics. Thus, the textual dimension is revealed as a vivid landscape that characterizes the dynamics of LGBTQ+ Jewish people between temporal, fragile, and safe spaces, painful memories and proud feelings, and victim consciousness and social agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
17498171
Volume :
18
Issue :
3
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Religion Compass
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
176244935
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/rec3.12486