"I am Jewish in the same way I am trans in the same way I am a community organizer— oppositional to the established order, exilic, de-integrated."
How has your faith and queer identity intersected?
I am Jewish in the same way I am trans in the same way I am a community organizer— oppositional to the established order, exilic, de-integrated. My anti-Zionism and my queerness and my deep tenderness for my religion are entwined and fruitful, they create organizing opportunities, moments of deep religious meaning, and spaces where queer and ancient encounter each other.
Do you have any scripture or sacred texts that you connect to?
There's a line from Pirkei Avot has guided and grounded me since I was a child:
“It is not your duty to complete the work, nor are you free to desist from it.”
To me, this holds the tension of any organizer working to birth a new world. Knowing that my ancestors learned and lived by this line sustains me in times of spiritual drought and despair, and keeps me hopeful for our children.
What advice would you have for other queer people of faith?
Through urgency, to remain grounded in meaning, ritual, and ancestry. To listen to the still small voice of conscience and truth within you, to allow yourself to be guided by what feels good and right, to connect with the divine and pleasure and suffering and pain and to return and renew yourself over and over in the deep waters of your tradition.