On Friday, Hillel at Brandeis, Triskelion, Shalem, the Brandeis Orthodox Organization and Kehilat Sha'ar sponsored the event "Jewish and LGBT: Understanding the Dual Identity."

Panelists Rabbi Steven Greenberg, Sara Fried '15, and students Gidon Feen from the George Washington University and Ami Altzman from Columbia University spoke about identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer and Jewish.

Greenberg, the first openly gay orthodox rabbi, spoke about the difficulties many gay orthodox Jews face and the lack of acceptance in many orthodox communities. Greenberg said he made it a goal to spread stories. "In the end, stories mattered more than ideologies when talking to orthodox rabbis," he said. "One thing about a story is it can't be wrong. It opens people up to emotions and gets people thinking."

Fried, the president of Shalem, a group at Brandeis that is "devoted to serving the Jewish/GLBTQQIA community," according to its website, told the story of how she came to terms with her dual-identity and how she began to embrace it. At first she described the horror of her mother saying lesbians are "women who didn't get enough love from their mothers and seek love from other women." Then, she spoke about the people that cared for her and told her she did not have anything to hide. "Everyone has the ability for that level of empathy," she said. "That's what I want to see from the community."

Feen spoke about the conflict that he felt between his Jewish beliefs and his gay identity when he was coming to terms with his sexuality. "I never stopped believing in God, but my perspective changed," he said. "I no longer believed He was omnibenevolent. I thought of him as a more sadistic God that enjoyed playing with people. I left synagogue on Yom Kippur feeling defeated."

Feen asked himself, "Why would I want to follow the religion of this God if he was making me feel so terrible about myself?"

Feen said that when he finally accepted his identity and came out at his graduation party, he realized that he did not want there to be a conflict between Judaism and being gay. "I felt such pride and happiness for what I did," he said. "[Coming out] was such an empowering and strengthening experience, and I felt that people cared about me."

Altzman spoke about the importance of conversation. "In high school I was coming out of the closet to people who had never met queer people, and this silence drove me to ask questions and have conversations," he said. He talked about a summer program he participated in and a club he participated in where he was able to discuss issues like what it means to be queer and Jewish at the same time. "I realized I didn't have to choose one or the other," he said. "I could be both."

After the panelists spoke, many audience members asked questions. Rabbi Elyse Winick '86 asked how the panelists feel when "Acharei Mot Kedoshim" is read during the high holidays, a reading that she said has been interpreted to condemn homosexuality in the past.

Feen said he hopes for another interpretation
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Fried said she always questions its purpose and sometimes thinks of it as a challenge.

Altzman said, "It makes me think of my friend's father who said coming out is an abuse of free speech. I like to interpret the passage differently and think about it as telling us to act moral to one another."

Greenberg said it used to make him feel "utterly broken," but that now he feels empowered by facing it.

Avi Fuld '14, who spearheaded the event's organization, said in an interview with the Justice that it was his goal to have an event like this before he graduates. "It's a really important issue to me personally," he said. "We have such a warm and welcoming community at Brandeis, and it's great that this community is willing to listen to these stories."