Chaya Gusfield is an American, Northern California attorney, known for being one of the two first openly lesbian rabbis ordained by the Jewish Renewal movement. Gusfield and Rabbi Lori Klein were ordained at the same time in January 2006. [1]
Gusfield was a legal services lawyer, [2] and director of a community mediation program prior to joining the rabbinate. [3] She is the Assistant Rabbi and B'nei Mitzvah Coordinator for Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville, California. [3] Prior to this, she served as one of the Spiritual Leaders for the Renewal Synagogue in Alameda County, California, [4] and as the Program Director for Kol Shofar, [5] a Conservative Synagogue in Tiburon, California. [3] Gusfield graduated from the New College of California with an LL.B. [2] [6]
She and her partner live in Oakland, California with their daughter Yeshi. [3] [7]
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 currently non-existent Sanhedrin under halakha.
The role of women in Judaism is determined by the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Law, by custom, and by cultural factors. Although the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature mention various female role models, religious law treats women differently in various circumstances. According to a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center, women are slightly more numerous among worldwide Jewish population (52%).
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term also used in Christianity.
Jewish Renewal is a Jewish religious movement originating in the 20th century that endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and musical practices. Specifically, it seeks to reintroduce the "ancient Judaic traditions of mysticism and meditation, gender equality and ecstatic prayer" to synagogue services. It is distinct from the baal teshuva movement of return to Orthodox Judaism.
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. RRC has an enrollment of approximately 80 students in rabbinic and other graduate programs.
Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to make the religious, legal, and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men in Judaism. Feminist movements, with varying approaches and successes, have opened up within all major branches of the Jewish religion.
Beth Israel Congregation is a Conservative synagogue located at 385 Pottstown Pike in Upper Uwchlan Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was founded in Coatesville, Pennsylvania in 1904 as Kesher Israel by Eastern European immigrants, and formally chartered as "Beth Israel" in 1916. It constructed its first building in 1923, and expanded it after World War II.
The first openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clergy in Judaism were ordained as rabbis and/or cantors in the second half of the 20th century.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) affirming denominations in Judaism are Jewish religious groups that welcome LGBT members and do not consider homosexuality to be a sin. They include both entire Jewish denominations, as well as individual synagogues. Some are composed mainly of non-LGBT members and also have specific programs to welcome LGBT people, while others are composed mainly of LGBT members.
Congregation Rodef Sholom, founded in 1956, is a Reform Jewish Congregation located on the Lonee C. Hoytt Jewish Campus in San Rafael, California. Prior to its establishment, Shabbat services were held at the Marin Jewish Community Center, established in 1946 at Mission and Forbes Street. The congregation met at the center until 1962 when it moved to its current location. The congregation shares a campus with the Osher Marin JCC and the Brandeis Hillel Day School. Rodef Sholom has been affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism since 1957. The congregation receives its name, meaning "pursuers of peace," from a Talmudic quote by Rabbi Hillel: "Be among the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them closer to the Torah."
Denise Leese Eger is an American Reform rabbi. In March 2015, she became president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in North America; she was the first openly gay person to hold that position.
Congregation Kol Shofar is a Conservative synagogue founded in 1962 and located in Tiburon, California. The congregation is led by Rabbis Susan Leider and Paul Steinberg, both of whom were ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies.
Lori D. Klein is an attorney known for being one of the two first openly lesbian rabbis ordained by the Jewish Renewal movement. Klein and Chaya Gusfield were ordained at the same time in January 2006.
Linda Joy Holtzman is an American rabbi and author. In 1979, she became one of the first women in the United States to serve as the presiding rabbi of a synagogue, when she was hired by Beth Israel Congregation of Chester County, which was then located in Coatesville, Pennsylvania.
Steven Blane is an American rabbi, cantor and recording singer-songwriter.
This is a timeline of women rabbis in the United States.
This is a timeline of women rabbis.
Deborah Waxman is an American rabbi and the president and CEO of Reconstructing Judaism. Waxman was inaugurated as the president of both on October 26, 2014. The ceremony took place at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. Waxman is believed to be the first woman rabbi and first lesbian to lead a Jewish congregational union, and the first lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary; the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College is both a congregational union and a seminary. She previously served as the vice-president for governance for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In 2015 she was named as one of The Forward 50.
This is a timeline of LGBT Jewish history, which consists of events at the intersection of Judaism and queer people.