Keshet is a Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

-based nonprofit that works for the full inclusion of gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

, lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

, bisexual

Bisexuality

Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...

, and transgender

Transgender

Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....

 (LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

) Jews in Jewish life. Keshet produced the groundbreaking documentary Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School and companion curriculum.

On June 18, 2010, it was announced that Jewish Mosaic, another American Jewish LGBT organization, would merge with Keshet, with the post-merger organization retaining the name "Keshet". The merger was aided through a grant from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. Jewish Mosaic was included in the 2005 and 2006 editions of “Slingshot,” a guide to 50 “of the most creative and effective Jewish organizations” in America.

Mission and Overview

Keshet is a grassroots organization working for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Jews in Jewish life. Nationally, Keshet provides resources, training, and technical assistance for creating change in Jewish communities across the country. In the Greater Boston area, Keshet also offers community events for GLBT Jews.

The Hineini Education Project

The Hineini Education Project trains and supports Jewish educators, clergy, program staff, youth, and lay leaders to ensure that GLBT youth, families, and staff are safe and affirmed in all Jewish educational and community settings. The Hineini Education Project has three major components:

Jewish Safe Schools & Supportive Communities

Individualized staff development trainings, consultations, and workshops that teach concrete strategies for combating anti-GLBT bias, supporting GLBT youth, and creating fully inclusive experiences for all Jewish youth and families. Keshet also runs two intensive Training Institutes annually for Jewish educators and community leaders. Participants are given the tools and guidance to replicate the trainings in their own communities. Keshet also has partnership with Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the first and only openly gay Orthodox rabbi, Keshet’s Rabbi-in-Residence.

Film Screenings and Facilitated Workshops

Opportunities to use the Keshet-produced documentary film Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School] to explore issues of identity, gender and sexual orientation, Jewish pluralism, Jewish perspectives on homosexuality and gender diversity, and youth-led activism.

Hineini Curriculum Resource Guide

A companion to the film Hineini

Hineini

Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School is a documentary film by director Irena Fayngold.-Plot:Hineini chronicles the story of Izen's attempt to establish a gay-straight alliance at a Jewish high school in the Boston.The student, Shulamit Izen, enters 9th grade at The New Jewish High School ...

that equips Jewish educators with resources to integrate GLBT issues into a wide range of programs and curricula, including Jewish text study history, social studies, health education, or a youth group retreat on diversity in the Jewish community. The materials can be used in both formal and informal educational settings with youth in grades 7-12.

Building Capacity for GLBT Jewish Inclusion

Training and technical support for emerging Jewish GLBT groups to replicate Keshet’s Jewish Safe Schools & Supportive Communities Program and build local capacity for fostering inclusion. JPride (San Diego), The Jewish Gay Network of Michigan (Detroit), and JQ International (Los Angeles) are Keshet’s first affiliated partners.

KeshetClal Inclusion Project

Responding to changes in Conservative halakha regarding the status of gays and lesbians, Keshet and Rabbi Steve Greenberg have joined together to create an integrated program that combines a text-based, halakhic approach to GLBT inclusion with Keshet’s experiential, skills-based Jewish Safe Schools & Supportive Communities trainings. This synthesized approach offers rabbis, lay leaders, and educators concrete skills for understanding and supporting GLBT experience in the context of traditional Judaism.

Social, Cultural, and Educational Events

From text study at a shul to a night out at a bar; from a day on the ski slopes to a Queer Shabbat potluck, our events build community, strengthen Jewish identity, and provide opportunities for GLBT Jews in Greater Boston to meet one another and connect.

Transgender Working Group (TWiG)

A support and social group for transgender Jews and allies. TWiG also offers educational programs on transgender issues and fosters trans inclusion in Keshet and in the broader Jewish community.

Organizing for GLBT Rights

From equal marriage to transgender rights, Keshet mobilizes Massachusetts Jewish communities to work for justice.

Recognition

Keshet was listed in the 2007-2008 and in the 2008-2009 issues of Slingshot, a resource guide of the "50 most innovative Jewish organizations and projects" in the United States.

External links

• Keshet Online (official website)
• Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School (official website of the film)

Press

• "Review of Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School." Video Librarian: The Video Review Magazine for Libraries, March-April 2009.
• "Hineini Released on DVD: Boston Release Party Brings About 75 to Club Café." New England Blade, September 24, 2008.
• "Transgender Professor Joy Ladin Faces Life Back at Yeshiva." The Advocate, September 18, 2008. National gay magazine cites Keshet's Transgender Working Group as one of the most prominent groups for transgender Jews in the United States.
• "DVD release for groundbreaking documentary about Jewish LGBT youth." Bay Windows, September 17, 2008.
• "Training educators, rabbis to welcome, affirm gay Jews." Cleveland Jewish News, August 6, 2008. Read about Keshet's second national training institute for Jewish educators and leaders.
• "Educators learn ways to welcome GLBT Jews into the community." JTA, May 8, 2008. Read about Keshet's first national training institute for Jewish educators and leaders.
• "Keshet Goes from Local Org to National Force." The Jewish Advocate, May 2, 2008.
• "Keshet is in Demand." Bay Windows, April 10, 2008.