fbpx

For the safety and security of all JCC patrons – any non-member guest attending an event at one of our Minnesota JCC campuses will need to show a valid US ID (Drivers License or Passport) to access the facility. 

Loading Events

« All Events

Queer Jews: The Struggle for Judaism’s Straight Soul

March 27, 2025 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Center for Jewish Studies presents:

In times of social upheaval, how do observant Jewish communities decide who’s in and who’s out? What happens when rules of belonging are challenged by marginalized groups of Jews? This talk considers these questions through the experiences of queer orthodox Jews in Israel. Until recently, LGBTQ+ Orthodox Jews could not imagine embracing their sexual or gender identity and staying within the Orthodox fold. But within the span of about two decades, Orthodox LGBTQ+ people forged social circles and communities and became visible. This talk offers the compelling story of how they created an effective social movement and rewrote what it means to be Orthodox, pointing to broader lessons about Jewish identity and community to be drawn from their struggles.

Orit Avishai is a Professor of Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Fordham University, where she is affiliated with the Center for Jewish Studies. The author of Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel (2023), she studies how Orthodox Jews negotiate with Jewish frameworks that regulate gender, sexuality, and desire. As part of a study of religious freedom as a locus of 21st-century culture wars, she is now writing about Yeshiva University students’ attempts to start a pride club on their campus.

FREE

CLICK HERE to RSVP.

Cosponsors: Department of Anthropology, Department of Classical and Near Eastern Religions & Cultures, Department of Sociology, Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies at the University of St. Thomas.

Details

Date:
March 27, 2025
Time:
7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Venue

Capp Center St. Paul
1375 St. Paul Ave
St. Paul, MN 55116 United States
+ Google Map