Jay Michaelson (born May 5, 1971 [1] ) is an American writer, journalist, professor, and rabbi. He is a commentator on CNN, [2] and a columnist for Rolling Stone , [3] and other publications, having been the legal affairs columnist at The Daily Beast [4] for eight years. He is the author of ten books, and won the 2023 National Jewish Book Award for scholarship [5] and the 2023 New York Society for Professional Journalists Award for Opinion Writing. [6]
Since 2013, Michaelson's journalistic work has focused largely on the Supreme Court, [7] religion, [8] and LGBT issues. [9] Michaelson has won the New York Society for Professional Journalists award for opinion writing three times, [10] most recently in 2023, for his article "There are a lot of Jews in Hollywood. Let a Rabbi Explain Why. [11] In addition to covering the Supreme Court, [12] [13] he has written on climate change, [14] antisemitism, [15] [16] voter suppression, [17] [18] judicial nominations, [19] [20] and other subjects, and has been featured on CNN, [21] MSNBC, [22] [23] and Meet the Press . [24]
In 2013, Michaelson wrote the first long-form report on the right-wing religious exemptions movement, Redefining Religious Liberty: The Covert Campaign Against Civil Rights. [25] Michaelson's work on this issue gained prominence a year later after the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case [26] and he has written many articles on religious liberty in Reuters, [27] The Washington Post [28] and other publications.
From 2004 to 2017, Michaelson was a columnist and contributing editor to The Forward [29] newspaper. In 2009, his essay entitled "How I'm Losing My Love for Israel" generated substantial controversy in the Jewish world, including responses [30] from Daniel Gordis, [31] and Jonathan Sarna, [32] and prefigured the estrangement of progressive American Jews from the government of Israel. Michaelson was listed in the Forward 50 list of the most influential American Jews in 2009.
Michaelson is an ordained rabbi, and teaches meditation in Buddhist, Jewish, and secular contexts. [33] His books on meditation and spirituality include Evolving Dharma: Meditation, Buddhism, and the Next Generation of Enlightenment [34] and Everything Is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism. [35] From 2018-22, he was a teacher, editor [36] and podcast host at Ten Percent Happier, [37] a meditation app and podcast network. He is also a teacher of jhāna meditation in the Theravādan Buddhist lineage of Ayya Khema and Michaelson's teacher Leigh Brasington [38] and co-leads Jewish meditation retreats at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. [39]
Michaelson is a rabbi and openly gay. He was a professional religious LGBTQ activist from 2004 to 2013. [40] [41] He was the founder and executive director of Nehirim , an LGBTQ Jewish organization, from 2004 to 2013. His 2009 book God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality was an Amazon bestseller and Lambda Literary Award finalist, [42] and Michaelson spoke at over 100 places of worship during the 2009–15 debates about same-sex marriage. Michaelson was called one of the "Most Inspiring LGBT Religious Leaders" in 2011 by The Huffington Post [43] and one of "Our Religious Allies" by the LGBT newspaper The Advocate. [44]
In 2014, Michaelson co-directed a project at The Daily Beast entitled Quorum: Global LGBT Voices, which features TED-style talks by LGBT leaders from the Global South. [45] Other LGBTQ-focused work includes the chapter on Exodus in the Queer Bible Commentary [46] (2022)
Michaelson holds a PhD in Jewish Thought from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he wrote his dissertation on the antinomian heretic Jacob Frank. His 2022 book on Frank, The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth, was published by Oxford University Press and won the National Jewish Book Award for scholarship. [47] He is an affiliated assistant professor at Chicago Theological Seminary and a visiting fellow at the Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion. [48] He previously held teaching positions at Boston University Law School and Yale University. Michaelson graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University in 1993, and from Yale Law School in 1997.
Michaelson's academic work in religious studies includes "Queering Martin Buber: Harry Hay's Erotic Dialogical" (Shofar, 2018), [49] "Conceptualizing Jewish Antinomianism in the 'Words of the Lord' by Jacob Frank" ( Modern Judaism , 2017); [50] "The Repersonalization of God: Monism and Theological Polymorphism in Zoharic and Hasidic Imagination" (Imagining the Jewish God, 2016), [51] "Queer Theology and Social Transformation Twenty Years after Jesus ACTED UP" (Theology and Sexuality, 2015), [52] and "Kabbalah and Queer Theology: Resources and Reservations" (Theology and Sexuality, 2012). [53]
Michaelson was a visiting assistant professor at Boston University Law School in 2007-08 and is the author of several legal-academic articles including "Rethinking Regulatory Reform: Toxics, Politics and Ethics" ( Yale Law Journal , 1996), [54] and "On Listening to the Kulturkampf, Or, How America Overruled Bowers v. Hardwick , Even Though Romer v. Evans Didn’t" ( Duke Law Journal , 2000). [55] and "Hating the Law for Christian Reasons: The Religious Roots of American Antinomianism" [56] (Jews and the Law, 2014). [57] His 1998 Stanford Environmental Law Journal article [58] [59] on geoengineering and climate change, described as "seminal" by Salon [60] was the first legal analysis of geoengineering in legal academic literature. [61]
Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality. The view that various Bible passages speak of homosexuality as immoral or sinful emerged in the first millennium AD, and have since become entrenched in many Christian denominations through church doctrine and the wording of various translations of the Bible.
Deism is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation of the natural world are exclusively logical, reliable, and sufficient to determine the existence of a Supreme Being as the creator of the universe. More simply stated, Deism is the belief in the existence of God, solely based on rational thought without any reliance on revealed religions or religious authority. Deism emphasizes the concept of natural theology—that is, God's existence is revealed through nature.
Within the Muslim world, sentiment towards LGBT people may vary between societies and individual Muslims, but is largely negative. The Quran mentions the "people of Lot" and, echoing the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, describes how God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their residents' engagement in homosexual acts. However, modern historians from the Western world have argued that Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet, never forbade homosexual relationships outright, although he disapproved of them in line with his contemporaries. At the same time, "both the Quran and the hadith strongly condemn homosexual activity" and some hadith advocate the death penalty for people who engage in any homosexual acts. To this end, anything other than heterosexual activity — chiefly vaginal intercourse between a biological man and a biological woman — is eligible for punishment under Islamic law. Sexual activity between women is generally viewed as a significantly lesser offense than sexual activity between men, and this is reflected in the laws of some Muslim-majority countries; there are typically harsher punishments for male offenders than for female offenders or, in some cases, bias in the form of legalizing lesbian activity while criminalizing gay activity.
The subject of homosexuality and Judaism dates back to the Torah. The book of Vayikra (Leviticus) is traditionally regarded as classifying sexual intercourse between males as a to'eivah that can be subject to capital punishment by the current Sanhedrin under halakha.
The relationship between religion and homosexuality has varied greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and denominations, with regard to different forms of homosexuality and bisexuality. The present-day doctrines of the world's major religions and their denominations differ in their attitudes toward these sexual orientations. Adherence to anti-gay religious beliefs and communities is correlated with the prevalence of emotional distress and suicidality in sexual minority individuals, and is a primary motivation for seeking conversion therapy.
Antinomianism is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms, or is at least considered to do so. The term has both religious and secular meanings.
A Jewish Buddhist is a person with a Jewish background who believes in the tenets of a form of Buddhism.
Surya Das is an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a poet, chantmaster, spiritual activist, author of many popular works on Buddhism, meditation teacher and spokesperson for Buddhism in the West. He has long been involved in charitable relief projects in the developing world and in interfaith dialogue.
Homosexuality in India has been a subject of discussion from ancient times to modern times. Hindu texts have taken various positions regarding homosexual characters and themes. The ancient Indian text Kama Sutra written by Vātsyāyana dedicates a complete chapter on erotic homosexual behaviour. Historical literary evidence indicates that homosexuality has been prevalent across the Indian subcontinent throughout history.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) affirming religious groups, otherwise referred to as gay-affirming religious groups, are religious groups that welcome LGBT people as their members, do not consider homosexuality as a sin or negative, and affirm LGBT rights and relationships. They include entire religious denominations, as well as individual congregations and places of worship. Some groups are mainly composed of non-LGBT members and they also have specific programs to welcome LGBT people into them, while other groups are mainly composed of LGBT members.
Same-sex marriage is not legal in Israel. The government has registered same-sex marriages performed abroad for some purposes since 2006. However, marriages performed in Israel are only available from one of the 15 religious marriage courts recognized by the state, none of which permit same-sex marriage under their respective auspices. Consequently, Israelis who desire to have their same-sex marriage recognized by the government must first marry outside Israel, in a jurisdiction where such marriages are legal, and then register upon returning home.
Frankism was a heretical Sabbatean Jewish religious movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, centered on the leadership of the Jewish Messiah claimant Jacob Frank. Frank rejected religious norms and said that his followers were obligated to transgress as many moral boundaries as possible. At its height it claimed perhaps 50,000 followers, primarily Jews living in Poland, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Nepal have evolved significantly during the 21st century. In 2007 Nepal repealed the laws against gay sex and introduced several laws which explicitly protected "gender and sexual minorities". The Nepalese Constitution now recognizes LGBT rights as fundamental rights. On 28 June 2023, a single judge bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha issued a historic order directing the government to make necessary arrangements to "temporarily register" the marriages of "non-traditional couples and sexual minorities". The government has not responded yet. If Nepal fully legalises same-sex marriage, it will become the first least developed country to legalize same-sex marriage. Nepal has not yet passed a national same-sex marriage law.
The relationship between transgender people and religion varies widely around the world. Religions range from condemning any gender variance to honoring transgender people as religious leaders. Views within a single religion can vary considerably, as can views between different faiths.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Mauritius have expanded in the 21st century, although LGBT Mauritians may still face legal difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Prior to 2023, sodomy was criminalized by Section 250 of the Criminal Code. However, Mauritius fully decriminalized homosexuality in October 2023. Although same-sex marriage is not recognized in Mauritius, LGBT people are broadly protected from discrimination in areas such as employment, the provision of goods and services, etc., making it one of the few African countries to have such protections for LGBT people. The Constitution of Mauritius guarantees the right of individuals to a private life.
Joy Ladin is an American poet and the former David and Ruth Gottesman Chair in English at Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University. She was the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution.
Nehirim was a national community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) Jews, families, students and allies that was founded in 2004. The organization ceased operations at the end of 2015.
Hinduism and Judaism are among the oldest existing religions in the world. The two share some similarities and interactions throughout both the ancient and modern worlds.
This is a timeline of LGBT Jewish history, which consists of events at the intersection of Judaism and queer people.
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