Witnessing Courage She sat in the corner upstairs, in a long dress and a wig. It was clear how hard it was for her to sit in that hall, how she was fighting herself just to remain in the chair. I’m used to head coverings, kippahs, and tzitzit—almost every screening has a notable representation of them. But I had never seen ultra-Orthodox clothing in any of the 52 screenings of Aron HaKodesh so far. Despite her struggle, she remained in her seat through all my opening remarks

Finding the Story At the beginning of my relationship with Shiloni, I would constantly tell her: "This isn’t my story. I can’t tell myself this story. We’ll have to part ways." She would elegantly ignore the last part of the sentence and instead guide me through a kind of guided imagination : "Close your eyes. Here we are ten years from now, in a house with a garden (ha, in our dreams), sitting with our two daughters (someday, someday, no, there’s nothing to tell yet), on the

Dr. Irit Koren Dr. Irit Koren: The Religious LGBTQ+ Experience – Identity, Marginalization, and the Importance of Support By: Eden Arazi Dr. Irit Koren is a clinical therapist and author of Closet Within a Closet: The Stories of Religious Homosexuals and Lesbians . She specializes, among other areas, in therapy for religious LGBTQ+ individuals and their families. Bat Kol is proud to host her as a guest columnist, discussing the importance of support and therapy for community

By: Eden Arazi Introduction Not long ago, a call was issued for Bat Kol members to volunteer for a community support hotline. The announcement, initially titled “Support Hotline for Religious Lesbians and Gay Men,” specified that potential volunteers were “gays and lesbians from the religious sector.” The ad was later revised to include transgender and bisexual individuals as well. It is clear that this change was not intended to offend. Yet, this incident, alongside numerou

By: Ziva Ofek well, to distinguish myself there” (Chullin 7a) Part I: Introduction Approximately three years ago, my friend Or, who at the time managed the forum for religious lesbian women, told me that she wished to initiate one or more articles addressing the conflict inherent in being both lesbian and religious. More broadly, she was collecting articles on the subject. I expressed my view that it was inconceivable for a forum of religious women to exist without any halak