Wednesday, September 3 | 6pm PT
How can we make sacred spaces safe and welcoming for LGBTQ+ Jews, and what does the Torah have to say about queer identity? Learn more during a panel discussion featuring Rabbi Rachel Joseph of Congregation Beth Israel and Rabbi Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein of Temple Beth Israel in Eugene, moderated by Rabbi Eliana Kayelle of Keshet.
This program is presented as part of Outliers and Outlaws: Stories from the Eugene Lesbian Oral History Project.
About the Panelists
- Rabbi Rachel Joseph (she/her/hers) joined Congregation Beth Israel in July of 2012 bringing her passion, commitment, and leadership for community building. She is a leader in social and racial justice activism as well as in equity and inclusion efforts with the CBI and greater Portland communities. She serves on the boards of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, is a member of the National Clergy Advisory Board for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and has previously been on the board of TIVNU, the Jewish Gap Year Program and chair of the Oregon and SW Washington Board of Rabbis. Since becoming an Oregonian, Rabbi Joseph has steadily increased her collection of gear and love of outdoor adventures, but draws the line at sleeping on the ground. In her time away from the pulpit, Rabbi Joseph enjoys adventures with her wife Sara, and their blended family of children, Zia, Bennet, and Max; dog, Keshet, and two cats, Olga and Misha.
- Rabbi Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein (she/her/hers) became Temple Beth Israel’s rabbi in July, 2015, after graduating from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. While completing her studies, she served for two years as a Cooperberg-Rittmaster Rabbinical Intern at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, New York’s LGBTQ synagogue. She also interned with the Woodstock Jewish Congregation, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society of Pennsylvania, and GreenFaith, a New Jersey-based environmental organization. She is inspired by both the personal and communal aspects of the rabbinate: holding and guiding people in moments of joy and sorrow, and helping bring people together, whether to join our voices in prayer or to work for social justice. She is committed to deepening her own Judaism, and to constantly finding ways to dialogue and connect with other faith traditions and communities.
- Rabbi Eliana Kayelle (they/them/theirs) brings a deep love of education and community as Keshet’s Bay Area Education and Training Manager. As a fat nonbinary queer Jew, they hope to inspire people to think about how Jewish texts and traditions relate to them here and now — and how they can be used while working for an equitable future. Eliana received rabbinical ordination as part of the first cohort of Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary. In spring 2022, Eliana launched You Gotta Give ‘Em Torah, which offers adult education focused on identity, sexuality, and spirituality. Their work has been published by Lilith and HeyAlma. Eliana believes in collective power and radical listening in order to work towards a future where there is liberation for all people.