April 12 Congregation Shir Tikvah marked Passover with a rather unusual event. While most Jews spent the holiday celebrating our long-ago liberation from slavery in Egypt, Shir Tikvah spotlighted a contemporary story: the celebration of American society’s shift in attitude toward equal rights for all, particularly those in the LGBTQ community. “This program is connected…
Portland is on the map for gay couples in Israel who turn to surrogacy to fulfill their desire to become parents in a society where parenthood is the ultimate goal. That sentiment, backed up by a recent article published in the Journal of Family Psychology, was voiced by two gay couples who came to Portland…
Each month Oregon Jewish Life will ask a group of rabbis, cantors or individuals to respond to a question. Since this issue has a section on weddings and the state of Washington just legalized gay marriage, we asked a group of rabbis what Judaism says about the sanctity of marriage and if they believe that…
The following is excerpted from an address given by Rabbi Elizabeth Dunsker on Feb. 9 at the start of a Vancouver to Olympia week-long march by clergy in support of marriage equality. Dunsker is the rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami, a Reform congregation in Vancouver, WA.
