Amichai Lau-Lavie

Last updated
Amichai Yehuda Lau-Lavie
Born (1969-04-22) 22 April 1969 (age 54)

Rabbi Amichai Yehuda Lau-Lavie (born April 22, 1969) is a social entrepreneur, human rights activist and LGBT, conservative rabbi, founder and spiritual leader of the Lab/Shul community in New York. [1]

Contents

Biography

Lau-Lavie is the fourth son of Naphtali Lau-Lavie and Joan Lau-Lavie (from Lunzer). His brother, Binyamin Lau, heads the 929: Bible Together project. His uncle, Israel Meir Lau, served as the chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, and his cousin, David Lau, is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi in Israel.

Lau grew up in Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak, New York and Jerusalem. He graduated from Hartman High School for Boys in Jerusalem in 1986. He continued his studies at the Har Etzion Yeshiva, and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces in 1987 as part of the integration program of the Ein Tzurim Yeshiva, where he served paratrooper, as a combat medic, and as a medic instructor in the national squad.

He worked in the field of nonformal education in the Gesher organization, institutes of Jewish Zionist education, and the Beit Midrash Elul in Jerusalem.

In 1999, he founded Storahtelling, a ceremonial theater group that employs the ancient tradition of Torah reading alternating with a translation in the local language, and renews the traditional Torah reading ceremony as a social political theater. [2] In 2009, Lau founded Lab/Shul, an egalitarian and experienced Jewish community laboratory in New York, which he still heads (as of 2021).

Lau completed his undergraduate studies in 2010 in New York.

In 2016, he completed his rabbinical studies and a master's degree in education at the Conservative movement's Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York.

Activities and Views

In 1999, he founded the theater group StorahTelling, an organization that took on the challenge of giving a new interpretation to Jewish identity through the Torah. The name connects the words "story," "Torah," and "Haggadah." The organization's mission is to take the stories of the Torah and show that they are relevant in the 21st century. [3]

About a decade later, in 2009, Lau established an egalitarian and experimental Jewish community in New York under the name Lab/Shul—a combination of lab (lab) and synagogue (shul). The home page of the community website reads: "Lab/Shul accepts people of all races, religions, beliefs, gender expressions, sexual orientations, countries of origin, ages, abilities, families and shades—with an open heart." [4]

Resident Alien Status

In 2017, Lau published a position paper called "JOY", which is based on a proposal to reinterpreting "resident alien" (ger toshav) status for marriages of Jews with members of other religions, who do not convert but choose to adopt Jewish elements in their relationship. [5] Lau explains the need his proposed changes in the context of maintaining Judaism: "A couple comes to me—the woman is Jewish and the man isn't. They want to get married but he doesn't want to convert. They want to be part of our community, to raise their children as Jews. If I tell them 'no,' we've lost them and their children, and that's it." [6]

Conversion Therapy

While an out gay man, Lau does not align himself with the LGBT community in Israel. For example, in an interview with Glatz in July 2019, he went against the words of the Minister of Education, Rafi Peretz, regarding conversion therapies. Lau said "there are people whose conversion therapies are their choice, but as the Minister of Education in Israel of 2019, this is an opinion that does not reflect who we are as a people, as a public and as a Jew." [7]

In an opinion piece he published at the time in WDG, his words were even sharper when he said, "When the Minister of Education of the State of Israel preaches the success of conversion therapies—in ignorance, malice and out of a conservative and dark position—he bears responsibility for the blood of my brothers in Israel and in the world who crave self-love and love for others and instead receive a cruel message." [8]

In Media

Between the years 1996–2005, Lau participated in reality shows produced by Rafik Yedidya, "Across Israel" (1996),; [9] "Cosmic Optimism" (1999), [10] which aired on Channel 2; and "The Eleventh Commandment" (2004) which aired on Channel 10.

On June 23, 2021, Lau participated in Israel's first television LGBTI Pride program on Israel's Network 13.

Personal life

Lau is a sperm donor and father co-parenting with Alice, Ezra and Charlotte-Hallel in New York.

Related Research Articles

Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law with the secular, modern world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebron Yeshiva</span>

Hebron Yeshiva, also known as Yeshivas Hevron, or Knesses Yisroel, is a yeshiva devoted to high-level study of the Talmud. It originated in 1924 when the roshei yeshiva and 150 students of the Slabodka Yeshiva, known colloquially as the "mother of yeshivas", relocated to Hebron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shlomo Riskin</span> American-Israeli Orthodox Jewish rabbi

Shlomo Riskin is an Orthodox rabbi, and the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of New York City, which he led for 20 years; founding chief rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Israeli-occupied West Bank; former dean of Manhattan Day School in New York City; and founder and Chancellor of the Ohr Torah Stone Institutions, a network of high schools, colleges, and graduate Programs in the United States and Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yisrael Meir Lau</span> Polish-born Israeli rabbi and Holocaust survivor (b. 1937)

Yisrael Meir Lau served as the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Israel, and chairman of Yad Vashem. He previously served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Greenberg (rabbi)</span> American rabbi

Steven Greenberg is an American rabbi with a rabbinic ordination from the Orthodox rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (RIETS). He is described as the first openly gay Orthodox-ordained Jewish rabbi, since he publicly disclosed he is gay in an article in the Israeli newspaper Maariv in 1999 and participated in a 2001 documentary film about gay men and women raised in the Orthodox Jewish world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Har Nof</span> Neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel

Har Nof is a neighborhood on a hillside on the western boundary of Jerusalem with a population of 20,000 residents, primarily Orthodox Jews.

Storahtelling is a non-profit organization headquartered in New York City that focuses on promoting Jewish literacy through the application of theater and stagecraft techniques to traditional Jewish texts and stories. The organization provides training in its methodology to professionals and lay leaders, offers adult classes, and presents rituals, ceremonies, and staged dramas at synagogues and community institutions globally.

Rabbi Moshe Sherer was co-Chairman of the Agudath Israel World Organization from 1980, and the Chairman of Agudath Israel of America from the 1960s, until his death in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshivah Centre, Melbourne</span>

The Yeshivah Centre is an Orthodox Jewish umbrella organisation in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, that serves the needs of the Melbourne Jewish community. It is run by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, until recently, under the direct administration of Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner. Rabbi Zvi Telsner has been brought as the new Dayan of the Centre and Lubavitch community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aharon Feldman</span>

Rabbi Aharon Feldman is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001. He is also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.

Orthodox Jewish outreach, often referred to as Kiruv or Qiruv, is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-observant Jews to encourage belief in God and life according to Orthodox Jewish law. The process of a Jew becoming more observant of Orthodox Judaism is called teshuva making the "returnee" a baal teshuva. Orthodox Jewish outreach has worked to enhance the rise of the baal teshuva movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breed Street Shul</span> United States historic place

Breed Street Shul, also known as Congregation Talmud Torah of Los Angeles or Breed Street Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, California. It was the largest Orthodox synagogue west of Chicago from 1915 to 1951, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yitzhak Peretz (politician born 1938)</span> Israeli politician

Rabbi Yitzhak Haim Peretz is a former Israeli politician who held several ministerial portfolios during the 1980s and early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zion Levy</span>

Zion (Sion) Rajamim Levy (1925–2008) was the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Panama for 57 years. His tenure is thought to be the longest of any religious leader in the region. He built up a Jewish community of 6,000-7,000 Torah-observant Jews in a country of 3 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yitzhak Yosef</span> Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel

Yitzhak Yosef is the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia, and the author of a set of books on halakha called Yalkut Yosef.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafi Peretz</span> Israel Defence Forces Chief Rabbi

Rafael "Rafi" Peretz is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and former politician. A former military officer and helicopter pilot who also served as the Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, he was the leader of the Jewish Home party. Peretz was a member of the Knesset for the Yamina alliance until he separated from the faction in order to join the Netanyahu-led government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binyamin Lau</span> Israeli rabbi and activist (born 1961)

Binyamin Tzvi (Benny) Lau, is an Israeli rabbi, community leader, activist, author, and public speaker who lives in Jerusalem. He is the head of 929: Tanach B'yachad and headed the Kehillat Ramban synagogue in Jerusalem for 18 years. He is also the head of the "Human Rights and Judaism in Action Project" at the Israel Democracy Institute. Previously, he was the director of a number of programs at Beit Morasha in Jerusalem, including their Center for Judaism and Society, their Institute for Social Justice, and their Israel Institute for Conversion Policy. He is also a well-known writer, and makes frequent appearances in the media.

Patrick Beaulier, known formerly by his professional name as Patrick Aleph, is an American writer, blogger, podcaster, non-denominational rabbi and spiritual leader, educator, and retired punk musician. He has been the lead vocalist for the bands The Love Drunks, Can Can, and Ice Bats. He is also the co-founder and creative director of PunkTorah, a non-profit website and Jewish outreach organization, and its subsidiaries OneShul.org and Darshan Yeshiva, an online synagogue and yeshiva, respectively. He has written for Jewcy, The Atlanta Jewish Times, and The Times of Israel, and hosts the semi-weekly Rabbi Patrick Podcast.

Lab/Shul is a Jewish nondenominational congregation in New York City. It was founded by Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie in 2012 when he was a rabbinical student as an experimental, pop-up synagogue with support from the UJA-Federation, Jewish foundations, and private donors. The intent of the congregation is to experiment with various forms of Jewish practice, hence "Lab" in its name. It now has approximately 300 families as members.

References

  1. ↑ "About – Amichai Lau-Lavie" . Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  2. ↑ "Storahtelling" . Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  3. ↑ "Storahtelling" . Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  4. ↑ "Lab/Shul Homepage" . Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "JOY: A Proposal" (PDF). Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "It's time to respect American Jewry" . Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  7. ↑ "Rabbi Amichai Lau to Rabbi Peretz" . Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "Peretz's unfortunate statement: Homophobia under the guise of concern for our well-being" . Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  9. ↑ "חוצה ישראל - 1996 - פרק ראשון". YouTube . Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "אופטימיות קוסמית פרק 3 - רומנטיקנים וציניקנים (חלק א')". YouTube . Retrieved 8 September 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.