LGBTQ+

Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah is proud to provide a warm, inviting, nurturing, and joyful environment for everyone who wishes to join our family. We strive to be an inclusive community, welcoming all Jews and their Jewish and/or interfaith partners and families, regardless of age, race, color, disability, religious background, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We are eager to help those who identify as LGBTQ+ to feel comfortable and accepted—and to enjoy full participation in every aspect of our synagogue life.

The Rabbi and Cantor officiate at same-sex weddings and aufrufs when both members of the couple are Jewish, gender-transition naming ceremonies, and brit milah, baby-naming and adoption ceremonies for the children of LGBTQ+ parents. (Rabbi Crane created the Conservative Movement’s standardized adoption ceremony for the children of LGBTQ+ parents.) They assign Torah aliyot to both members of same-sex Jewish couples and provide gender-neutral Hebrew terminology for aliyot. We welcome to our BHBE Academy the children of LGBTQ+ parents. We celebrate b’nai mitzvah and other smachot (happy occasions) of LGBTQ+ families the same as all families. And in times of bereavement, the BHBE community comes together to provide comfort and support to all its mourners.

At BHBE, we strive to promote communication, understanding, and acceptance not only within our own community, but also between and among the broader Jewish and LGBTQ+ communities. We maintain that all people are created b’tzelem Elokim (in God’s image); thus, we are committed to modeling behavior—in our congregation and in the world—that reflects core Jewish principles of equality, fairness, and chesed (unconditional loving kindness).

Please read this article by Aimee Close, who guided BHBE’s recently-created Strategic Plan.

Aimee Close.Why You Should Hove a Pride Shabbat

LGBTQ+ Inclusion Committee

Our LGBTQ+ Inclusion Committee works in close partnership with Keshet, the national Jewish LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, to promote LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusion by providing:

• ongoing training for clergy, personnel, and lay leaders;
• LGBTQ+-oriented programs and events;
• programming to further our congregation’s understanding of LGBTQ+ issues;
• a comfortable atmosphere in which openly LGBTQ+ people feel encouraged to become involved in all aspects of synagogue life;
• an all-gender restroom;
• inclusive language on all synagogue-generated documents and communications

If you’re interested in joining  our LGBTQ+ Inclusion Committee, please contact us at information@bhbe.org.

Resources for LGBTQ+ Youth

Keshet assists the LGBTQ+ Inclusion Committee by providing ongoing consultation and training for leaders and the community to create and maintain a culture that is welcoming of LGBTQ+ Jews.

Keshet Resources and Contact Information:

Jackie Maris
Chicago Education & Training Manager
Pronouns: she/her/hers

Keshet: For LGBTQ Equality in Jewish life
4411 N Ravenswood Ave, Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60640
617.402.2175

Web: www.keshetonline.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KeshetGLBTJews
Twitter: twitter.com/KeshetGLBTJews
Instagram: instagram.com/KeshetLGBTQJews

Additional LGBTQ+ Jewish Resources for Youth:

• JCFS’ Response For Teens (their teen center that serves a lot of LGBTQ Jewish youth)
• Glenview Youth Services Pride Program
• Moving Traditions’ Tzelem Program
• JQY (Jewish Queer Youth)

Additional LGBTQ+ Jewish Resources:

A Wider Bridge  A Wider Bridge is a North American organization working through education, advocacy, relationship-building and grant-making to foster equality by expanding LGBTQ inclusion in Israel and by cultivating constructive engagement with Israel.