The Institute for Judaism and Sexual Orientation at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) is the first and only institute of its kind in the Jewish world. The Institute was founded in 2000 to educate HUC-JIR students on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues to help them challenge and eliminate homophobia and heterosexism; and to learn tools to be able to transform the communities they encounter into ones that are inclusive and welcoming of LGBT Jews.
Over time, this mission of education and the creation of welcoming spaces has expanded to the larger community outside the walls of our four campuses in Los Angeles, Cincinnati, New York and Jerusalem. The Institute offers consultation to individual professionals, synagogues and organizations as well as seminars and workshops at HUC-JIR and at local, national and international conferences.
Upcoming Events
LGBT Pastoral Care Series
Join us to develop skills in providing pastoral care to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jews. This series offers a safe environment to learn, ask questions and get answers.
LGBT Family Retreat
The IJSO is proud to be one of over 20 sponsors for this wonderful Jewish LGBT Family Retreat - where families can discover the magic of camp with fun activities, adult discussions, and a beautiful environment. Click here for more information. Visit www.shalominstitute.com to register.
The long-term goal of the Welcoming Synagogues Project is to develop an LGBT Welcoming Movement across Jewish denominations ...Read More
The long-term goal of the Welcoming Synagogues Project is to develop an LGBT Welcoming Movement across Jewish denominations where congregations will actively seek ways to become welcoming to LGBT people as one among the many other groups that they seek to serve and to bring into their community.
The Welcoming Synagogues Project began in 2007 with dialogue, research and exploration of what was happening on the ground in synagogues across the United States and Canada, as well as comparative work in other religious denominations. This process has included face to face interviews with rabbis, board members and congregants as well as a survey of every synagogues in the US and Canada across all Jewish denominations. The most recent aspect of this work has been the piloting of a twelve (12) session curriculum designed to take congregations through a structured reflection, education and action process to develop a plan and to become more LGBT welcoming and inclusive. A more detailed history of the project will be forthcoming.
Meanwhile, if you are interested in learning about the curriculum and how to become more welcoming, as well as sharing the great work that you are already doing, please contact us to learn more about the program at welcomingsynagogues@gmail.com. ...Read Less
The Jeff Herman Virtual Resource Center (JHVRC) for Sexual Orientation Issues in the Jewish Community is a
web-based educational environment for all those interested in learning about Judaism, Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity. It contains the largest online gathering of articles, texts, and websites on Judaism and lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender topics in the world. The JHVRC also features answers to Frequently Asked Questions, case
studies exploring how issues of sexual orientation and gender might be discussed in a Jewish context, and guides for
studying biblical and rabbinic text.
