{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/4j09w09w37/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Lesser, Josh"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/082/original/TheBreman_SecondaryMark_Horizontal_Blue_Black.png?1713640889","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2021-06-21 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Josh Lesser (Interviewee)","Sandra Berman (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English (primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["video"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum","Esther and Herbert Taylor Oral History Collection","Jewish Oral History Project of Atlanta"]}},{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eRabbi Josh Lesser was interviewed by Sandra Berman on June 21, 2021. \u003c/p\u003e (general)","\u003cp\u003eRabbi Joshua Lesser was born in 1969 in Buffalo, New York. His parents are Dr. Laurence Lesser and Elaine Lesser. He has one sibling, Mishele Lesser. The family attended Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended The Hebrew Academy and Yeshiva High School. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he helped create Students Helping Organize Awareness of the Holocaust (SHOAH) and the Northwestern Israel Public Affairs Committee (NIPAC), a student chapter of AIPAC. While at Northwestern, he was also elected student president of Hillel. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter graduating from Northwestern, Rabbi Lesser went on to participate in Teach For America before attending the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, graduating in 1999 with his Masters of Hebrew Letters and his ordination. As a rabbinical student, he interned at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBT synagogue, in Manhattan, New York before applying for a pulpit position at a synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland. After its previous rabbi departed, he applied for the rabbinate of Congregation Bet Haverim, a LGBT-founded Reconstructionist synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the rabbi of Bet Haverim for 22 years, retiring in 2021 and remaining with the congregation in an emeritus role.  \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRabbi Lesser has been named one of the 36 Most Inspiring Rabbis by the Forward and one of The 100 Most Influential LGBTQ Clergy by the Huffington Post. He is a founder of and the first Jewish president of the Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta. He is also the founder of the Rainbow Center, now the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity (SOJOURN), a center for education, support, and advocacy for Atlanta’s Jewish and LGBTQ populations. He is the president and co-founder of Bridges Faith Initiative in Washington, D.C., a non-profit interfaith immigration rights organization and a collaborator with The On Being Project, serving as the Spiritual Companion to their Social Healing Fellowship. He was also co-editor of the book Torah Queries, a weekly Torah reading guide through an LGBTQ lens. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rabbi Lesser created two international online forums for both Jewish and interfaith clergy to brainstorm, share resources, and offer mutual support. \u003c/p\u003e (bioghist)","\u003cp\u003eRabbi Lesser discusses growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. He talks about attending Shearith Israel as a child and his Jewish education. He shares how his Jewish education helped shape his identity as a young queer Jewish man. He discusses attending Northwestern University and his involvement with other Jewish students there, including helping found a student group for Holocaust awareness and a student chapter of AIPAC. He also reflects on his time as student president of Hillel at Northwestern; he recalls that this position with Hillel is what opened his eyes up to the possibility of Jewish leadership. He talks about finishing college and going on to work for Teach for America before deciding to pursue rabbinical school. He recounts the decision to come out to his parents before leaving to begin rabbinical school and his decision to live as an openly gay man and an openly gay rabbi. He reflects on his experiences coming out and how those experiences have impacted his work as a rabbi and spiritual leader. He discusses becoming rabbi of Congregation Bet Haverim and the challenges he faced as an openly gay rabbi. He talks about the struggle to be accepted in the Atlanta Jewish community, especially in the Orthodox and Conservative communities. He also discusses antisemitism in the LGBTQ community. He describes the creation of the Rainbow Center, an LGBTQ Jewish education and outreach center, at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and the later creation of SOJOURN as an extension of the Rainbow Center independent from the Federation. Rabbi lesser talks about his decision to retire from Congregation Bet Haverim after 22 years as the congregation’s rabbi. He describes the projects he is currently working on, including the Bridges Faith Initiative, the On Being Project, and working as a DEI consultant. He also discusses the editing the 2012 book Torah Queries and his push to include other, non-cisgender white male voices in the editing and curation of the book. \u003c/p\u003e (scope content)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["https://archivesspace.thebreman.org/repositories/2/archival_objects/28911"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, recorded by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written consent of the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["Lesser, Josh (personal name)","Lesser, Laurence (1944-2017) (personal name)","Wilson, Marc (1949- ) (personal name)","Kogen, Judah (1949- ) (personal name)","Kunis, Mark Hillel (personal name)","Schreiber, Jacob (personal name)","Balinski, Michael (personal name)","Tippett, Krista (personal name)","Drinkwater, Gregg (personal name)","Shneer, David (1978-2020) (personal name)","Goldstein, Elyse (personal name)","Plaskow, Judith (personal name)","Lappe, Benay (personal name)","Sarnat, David (personal name)","Mazer, Ellen (personal name)","Miller, Gary (personal name)","Hoffman, Andrea (personal name)","Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta (corporate name)","The Hebrew Academy (Atlanta, Ga.) (corporate name)","Congregation Shearith Israel (corporate name)","Northwestern University (corporate name)","American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) (corporate name)","Northwestern Israel Public Affairs Committee (NIPAC) (corporate name)","Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (Manhattan, Ny.) (corporate name)","Congregation Bet Haverim (corporate name)","Atlanta Rabbinical Association (corporate name)","Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal (STAR) (corporate name)","Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta (corporate name)","Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity (SOJOURN) (corporate name)","The Rainbow Center (corporate name)","Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta (corporate name)","Jewish Family \u0026amp; Career Services (JF\u0026amp;CS) (corporate name)","Anti-Defamation League (ADL) (corporate name)","World Pilgrims (corporate name)","Yeshiva High School (corporate name)","Hillel International (corporate name)","Bridges Faith Initiative (corporate name)","Keshet (corporate name)","Jewish Mosaic (corporate name)","Students Helping Organize Awareness of the Holocaust (SHOAH) (corporate name)","The Forward (corporate name)","It Gets Better (corporate name)","Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (corporate name)","The On Being Project (corporate name)","Clarkston, Georgia (geographic term)","Atlanta, Georgia (geographic term)","Brooklyn, New York (geographic term)","Buffalo, New York (geographic term)","Baltimore, Maryland (geographic term)","Chicago, Illinois (geographic term)","Evanston, Illinois (geographic term)","Israel (geographic term)","Orthodox Judaism (topical term)","Conservative Judaism (topical term)","Reform Judaism (topical term)","Reconstructionist Judaism (topical term)","Yarmulke (topical term)","Holocaust (topical term)","LGBT (topical term)","LGBT community centers (topical term)","LGBT issues (topical term)","Mechitza (topical term)","Antisemitism (topical term)","Homophobia (topical term)","Rabbinical seminaries (topical term)","Gulf War (1990-1991) (topical term)","Trembling Before G-d (film) (topical term)","On Being (podcast) (topical term)","Torah Queries (book) (topical term)","The Woman's Torah Commentary (book) (topical term)"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eRabbi Josh Lesser was interviewed by Sandra Berman on June 21, 2021.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eRabbi Joshua Lesser was born in 1969 in Buffalo, New York. His parents are Dr. Laurence Lesser and Elaine Lesser. He has one sibling, Mishele Lesser. The family attended Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended The Hebrew Academy and Yeshiva High School. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he helped create Students Helping Organize Awareness of the Holocaust (SHOAH) and the Northwestern Israel Public Affairs Committee (NIPAC), a student chapter of AIPAC. While at Northwestern, he was also elected student president of Hillel.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter graduating from Northwestern, Rabbi Lesser went on to participate in Teach For America before attending the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, graduating in 1999 with his Masters of Hebrew Letters and his ordination. As a rabbinical student, he interned at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world\u0026rsquo;s largest LGBT synagogue, in Manhattan, New York before applying for a pulpit position at a synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland. After its previous rabbi departed, he applied for the rabbinate of Congregation Bet Haverim, a LGBT-founded Reconstructionist synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the rabbi of Bet Haverim for 22 years, retiring in 2021 and remaining with the congregation in an emeritus role. \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRabbi Lesser has been named one of the 36 Most Inspiring Rabbis by the Forward and one of The 100 Most Influential LGBTQ Clergy by the Huffington Post. He is a founder of and the first Jewish president of the Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta. He is also the founder of the Rainbow Center, now the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity (SOJOURN), a center for education, support, and advocacy for Atlanta\u0026rsquo;s Jewish and LGBTQ populations. He is the president and co-founder of Bridges Faith Initiative in Washington, D.C., a non-profit interfaith immigration rights organization and a collaborator with The On Being Project, serving as the Spiritual Companion to their Social Healing Fellowship. He was also co-editor of the book Torah Queries, a weekly Torah reading guide through an LGBTQ lens. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rabbi Lesser created two international online forums for both Jewish and interfaith clergy to brainstorm, share resources, and offer mutual support.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eRabbi Lesser discusses growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. He talks about attending Shearith Israel as a child and his Jewish education. He shares how his Jewish education helped shape his identity as a young queer Jewish man. He discusses attending Northwestern University and his involvement with other Jewish students there, including helping found a student group for Holocaust awareness and a student chapter of AIPAC. He also reflects on his time as student president of Hillel at Northwestern; he recalls that this position with Hillel is what opened his eyes up to the possibility of Jewish leadership. He talks about finishing college and going on to work for Teach for America before deciding to pursue rabbinical school. He recounts the decision to come out to his parents before leaving to begin rabbinical school and his decision to live as an openly gay man and an openly gay rabbi. He reflects on his experiences coming out and how those experiences have impacted his work as a rabbi and spiritual leader. He discusses becoming rabbi of Congregation Bet Haverim and the challenges he faced as an openly gay rabbi. He talks about the struggle to be accepted in the Atlanta Jewish community, especially in the Orthodox and Conservative communities. He also discusses antisemitism in the LGBTQ community. He describes the creation of the Rainbow Center, an LGBTQ Jewish education and outreach center, at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and the later creation of SOJOURN as an extension of the Rainbow Center independent from the Federation. Rabbi lesser talks about his decision to retire from Congregation Bet Haverim after 22 years as the congregation\u0026rsquo;s rabbi. He describes the projects he is currently working on, including the Bridges Faith Initiative, the On Being Project, and working as a DEI consultant. He also discusses the editing the 2012 book Torah Queries and his push to include other, non-cisgender white male voices in the editing and curation of the book.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, recorded by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written consent of the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/082/original/TheBreman_SecondaryMark_Horizontal_Blue_Black.png?1713640889","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/165/102/small/Lesser_Josh.mp4_1660757471.jpg?1660757474","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Lesser_Josh.mp4"]},"duration":5298.549,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/165/102/small/Lesser_Josh.mp4_1660757471.jpg?1660757474","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-thebreman.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/165/102/original/Lesser_Josh.mp4?1660757439","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":5298.549,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Josh Lesser [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"BERMAN: Today is June 21st, 2021. And I am with Josh Lesser, who has agreed\nto participate in the Esther and Herbert Taylor Oral History Project of the\nWilliam Breman Jewish Heritage Museum. Thank you for doing this. It's a thrill\nand an honor to be able to interview you for this project. I'd like to begin\nwith a little background if you could say where and when you were born.\n\nLESSER: I was born in 1969 in ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=0.0,30.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Buffalo, New York, at the Sisters of Charity Hospital.\n\nBERMAN: And your parents?\n\nLESSER: My father is Laurence Lesser. He is deceased. He was born in Brooklyn\n[New York]. My mom is Elaine Lesser, who lives here in Atlanta [Georgia] and was also born\nin Brooklyn, New York. My dad was in medical school in Buffalo and my mom had\njust finished nursing school and was up there with him.\n\nBERMAN: Did you come down to Atlanta without ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=30.0,60.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"them? You moved as a family?\n\nLESSER: My family moved when I was less than a year old so that my father could\nfinish his medical studies at Emory, which is where he did his fellowship and\nhis residency at Emory University. I essentially refer to myself as a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=60.0,90.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"native\nsince I kind of feel like I got under the wire. I think we moved here the summer\nof my first year and lived here in Atlanta until I was five and a half. My dad\nhad to serve in the Navy. He had deferred it for two years for his medical\ntraining. We went to Charleston, South Carolina. I was there for two years. Then\nthey moved back to Atlanta, where I finished elementary school and high school.\n\nBERMAN: What neighborhood did you grow up in?\n\nLESSER: When we first ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=90.0,120.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"came to Atlanta, we lived in Clarkston [Georgia], and we\nlived in two different small apartment complexes in Clarkston. So, whenever I go\nback there today to do work with the refugee community, it's really important to\nme to remember that this is where I got my start as well. It's interesting\nbecause in my first few years, I went to nursery school and kindergarten all the\nway on Peachtree Street, not far from ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=120.0,150.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"here at the Jewish Community Center. My\nparents schlepped quite a ways to give me that Jewish education. Then after we\nleft for Charleston [and] returned, I lived near Northlake Mall on the Atlanta\nside off of Briarcliff Road at Cravey Drive, which was a very Jewish\nneighborhood at that time as well. Strangely enough, we did not plan this, but\nwe moved right next door to cousins and then we had another set of ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=150.0,180.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"cousins that\nwere less than a mile away. We found ourselves kind of in one of the hearts of\nthe Jewish community in Atlanta. I spent one year in public school, which would\nhave been Hendersonville Elementary, which was not a good fit. Then I returned\nto Jewish day school, which I had been in in Charleston. I went to The Hebrew\nAcademy here from fourth grade through seventh.\n\nBERMAN: And what congregation did your parents belong to?\n\nLESSER: We belonged to ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=180.0,210.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Shearith Israel. Marc Wilson, Rabbi Marc Wilson was the\nrabbi through my entire time. When I left for college was when there was that\ntransition. Painful part of our Atlanta history. And Rabbi [Judah] Kogen came\non, he's the one who did my sister's bat mitzvah, I believe. Maybe it was Rabbi\nWilson still. But then Kogan came and then [Mark] Kunis.\n\nBERMAN: That was a pretty conservative ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=210.0,240.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"congregation. How did it feel growing up\nin that type of . . . ?\n\nLESSER: I spent most of my childhood going to Jewish education, all the way . .\n. I had one year in third grade where I wasn't. I was very comfortable, fluent\nin biblical Hebrew. To be honest, most of . . . if I had a choice, I would have\njust stayed with the Hebrew part of the day. I really liked davening and ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=240.0,270.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"so . .\n. What was interesting is, like many people, this is a common pattern.\nParticularly my father's parents were very, I would say, devout, practicing\nConservative Jews. My grandfather put on tefillin every day and davened and so\nwhen I would spend time with him, that felt very comfortable. My mom's parents,\nwhich I would say, were always on the edge of poverty. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=270.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Their connection to the\nlarger Jewish community in Brooklyn, I think it was a lot by absorption. They\nwere also very deeply connected, Jewishly, but I don't think had the resources\nto participate in the same way as my father's parents, but they were the ones\nfor whom the Jewish identity was really strong. My parents, I would say, felt\nmost connected through the holidays. My sister and I were the ones who are much\nmore Jewishly knowledgeable and active than my parents and it created this\nreally interesting challenge. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=300.0,330.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I think that for my parents, and I experience this\ntoday as well, that Reform Judaism would have felt inauthentic to them. Too much\nEnglish, not wearing a yarmulke. They needed those kinds of symbols, even though\nShearith Israel was more traditional than they were in their day-to-day lives.\nAnd at the Hebrew Academy, the vast majority of us . . . I felt like those of us\nwho were not Orthodox were in the vast majority of the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=330.0,360.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"students. Most of my\nfriends lived this kind of life, whether . . . many of my friends didn't keep\nkosher in the home. We didn't either. Famous story, my family is . . . my mom\nwas having a big dinner party and had bought a couple pounds of shrimp and I\nfound it in the refrigerator, and I threw it out. There was a way where I found\nmyself trying to figure out how to keep kosher in the context of a family that\nwould go ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=360.0,390.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"out to eat a lot and didn't buy kosher meat. Though, as people develop\nidiosyncratic Jewish practices that are meaningful, my mom would buy kosher food\nfrom Norm's, which was a delicatessen here, every Friday night so that we would\nhave a kosher meal on Shabbat as a way to do that. Shearith Israel in some ways\nfelt comfortable. I think that perhaps the Temple would have been the other\noption. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=390.0,420.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"All the way through my twenties, I may have only been inside a Reform\nsynagogue once or twice, and that would have been for a bar [mitzvah] or bat\nmitzvah of one of my friends from the Hebrew Academy. Otherwise, until I decided\nto go to a rabbi, the Reform movement was very foreign to me as a concept. I\nreally didn't know anything about it except for the negative messages that my\nOrthodox upbringing had kind of placed upon me. I'm ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=420.0,450.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"very grateful to the Hebrew\nAcademy and then Yeshiva High School where I went for one year. There's so much\nabout Jewish pride, and I feel like I never, even despite all of my challenges\nof trying to figure out where do I identify, I never doubted my Jewishness or my\nJewish connection because of the education and the pride that I had. And yet\nthere was a lot that I had to deconstruct in order to live what I feel is a\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=450.0,480.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"meaningful expression of Jewish life and actually be someone who, rather than\nbeing such a gatekeeper, which I would say was primarily what the messages I've\ngot, that we had to keep a tight fence around things, that this is who is a Jew\nand this is who is not a Jew. I really feel like in terms of rabbis in America,\nI'm somebody who very much is trying to deconstruct the gatekeeping model and\nmove much more to what I sometimes refer to as ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=480.0,510.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ambassadorship. Shearith\nIsrael actually played a really key role in my awakening because my sister was\nas committed and devout and smart when it came to Jewish studies and the fact\nthat she was not able to read from the Torah was really hurtful to her, and it\njust did not make sense to me. It began to open my eyes around the inequities\nthat were in our Jewish community that actually impacted people's ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=510.0,540.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ability to\nparticipate and find a meaningful connection. So, while I personally loved Rabbi\nWilson, he was a very dynamic, charismatic rabbi, I really began to question my\nconnection when my sister wasn't able to have the same experience as me.\n\nBERMAN: Your sister's name?\n\nLESSER: My sister is Mishele Lesser. She lives in Brooklyn now, has spent most\nof her life in Atlanta. She was born here, also went to Hebrew day ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=540.0,570.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"school. She\ndid not go to Yeshiva High School. I ended that for my family.\n\nBERMAN: And your parents' names?\n\nLESSER: My [father] is Laurence Lesser, and my mom is Elaine Lesser.\n\nBERMAN: Where did you attend college?\n\nLESSER: I went to Northwestern University, and I studied Human Development and\nSocial Policy. Interestingly, I went to High Holy Day services, and I did not\nconnect to the rabbi very much at ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=570.0,600.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"all. What I did connect to was a group of\nJewish students who decided that they wanted to do Jewish programing outside of\nthe Hillel umbrella. These were kind of my first group of friends. We decided\nbecause there was a Holocaust revisionist on campus, that there needed to be a\nmore robust response. About six of us created organization called SHOAH, which\nwas Students Helping Organize Awareness of the Holocaust. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=600.0,630.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"The other thing that\nwas really important about this experience for me is that while my Jewish\neducation around the Holocaust had been really strong, if not perhaps to too\nviolent in the messages that I saw early on, it was very incomplete when it came\nto the fullness of other communities and other peoples that were ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=630.0,660.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"affected. Being\na part of this group brought in my own education around the Holocaust. I was\npart of a group of students that created a week that focused on other victims.\nWe brought in people to speak about the Romani community. We brought in people\nto speak about the LGBT community, about political dissidents. When I look back\nat my time in college, it's one of the most proud things I felt like I was a\npart of because it really . . . Rather ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=660.0,690.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"than sometimes people feel like when you\ntake the focus off the Jewish community and what happened in the Holocaust, that\nsomehow we suffer. I really felt like it helped broaden a context and a\npossibility of connecting that felt really important. Similarly, get this\ndocumented even though this doesn't reflect where I am today, I was also, with\nsome of these students, a part of founding NIPAC [Northwestern Israel Public\nAffairs Committee], which was the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=690.0,720.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Northwestern student chapter of AIPAC\n[American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and there we hosted the first\nMidwestern conference for College Students for AIPAC. What was really\nfoundational for me there, unfortunately, was at the conference because I had\naccess to everything back behind the scenes. I actually experienced the number\nof staffers from AIPAC speaking about Palestinians and ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=720.0,750.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Arabs in ways that were\ndehumanizing and not about the politics, really about the person. That began to\nput me on a different journey of not just accepting everything that had been . .\n. Again, like the Holocaust, there was just all of these messages. It became\nanother place where I needed to deconstruct. Hillel took note of me during this\ntime and the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=750.0,780.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"program director . . . One of the things that happened is that we\nneeded money. So ultimately, we ended up migrating our programing under the\numbrella of Hillel. That was largely comfortable. A woman named Andrea Hoffman,\nwho I believe still works for Hillel International, was an incredible program\ndirector. She and I became friendly, and she asked me if I would do a series of\nparlor meetings to understand what students wanted and needed. I think part of\nmy feedback is that student . . . that it ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=780.0,810.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"wasn't meeting those needs and, in\ntalking with her, while I didn't really know anything about Reconstructionism,\nmy vision for Hillel was . . . What I said at the time was, was that I want\nanybody who is Jewish, even if they just discovered they were Jewish yesterday,\nto walk into this building and feel like they can have a home. That was\ncertainly not the place. The rabbi, Rabbi Michael Balinsky, was Orthodox. I\nthink that even though today many people ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=810.0,840.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"experience him as one of the more\nforward thinking and inclusive Orthodox rabbis out in North America, there were\nstill a lot of layers that he brought on, Shabbat morning services had a\nmechitza, things that I already at that point were very strongly opposed to. I\nran these series of parlor group meetings and discovered that I was fascinated\nby what students wanted. Jewish students wanted more intramural sports. They\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=840.0,870.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"wanted opportunities for dating. They wanted cultural experiences. I loved that\nand in talking with the program director, she asked, \"Would you like to move\ninto leadership with Hillel?\" And I said, \"Yes.\" So, much to the rabbi's\nchagrin, she convinced me to run for president and implement this and I did. So,\ntwo things about this story is that I am already starting to come ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=870.0,900.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"out.\nBasically, I hit college and that's when that starts happening. Having had a\nvery kind of difficult and challenging experience around that, a lot of shame\ngiven the messages that I grew up with. At the same time, as I decided to become\npresident for Hillel, I know that I need to remain in the closet. I also had\njoined the football fraternity, believe it or not. I did that as a sociological\nexperiment. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=900.0,930.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I was one of two Jews in this fraternity and one of the maybe three\nor four non-football players. That was also another reason that was very clear\nthat I couldn't come out. I was realizing I was deepening this bifurcated life\nthat I was about to lead, and then I was elected president. A lot of changes\nwere happening. The rabbi was definitely not happy with that decision. He pulled\nme aside and ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=930.0,960.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"said, \"You going to have to start coming to services more often.\"\nWe brokered this deal that I would come to Friday night, but I told him I just\nwill not pray where there's a mechitza. So, we brokered that deal. Close to\nNorthwestern is North America's largest Baha'i temple. That was one of the\nplaces, wherever I felt like if I had a problem or I needed just a little bit of\nspace to think, they have the most beautiful rose garden. It's exquisite\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=960.0,990.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"architecture. I found myself there. Earlier on, I even wondered, because of its\nuniversal message, I was like, \"Should I convert to Bahai'?\" I think I had this\nlittle thought. Then very quickly, I realized by just doing a little reading\nthat it was as patriarchal and as homophobic as every other religion is. So,\nit's like, I might as well stick with Judaism, why not work within the context?\nIt really in some ways was this very anchoring place for me. Shortly after I was\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=990.0,1020.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"elected president, I went up there. I don't think I'd ever really gone into the\ngift shop, but I did this day, and there was this poster that had all of these\nlittle children of different ethnicities or . . . kind of with religious garb\non. It basically said, \"The Golden Rule in all major religions\" and Judaism was\nup on top. So, the Golden Rule was there, and then it was kind of how it stated\nand all of these religious traditions. I was like, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1020.0,1050.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\"Oh, great, this is perfect\nfor my Hillel office.\" I bought it and I hung it up and the rabbi came in and he\nsaid, \"You can't hang that up here.\" And I was like, really? And he's like, \"No,\nit's just not appropriate.\" I was like, \"Why isn't an appropriate. Judaism is\nrepresented, it's actually right here, and in some ways one can make the\nargument that this flows from . . . this is the gift that the Jewish community\nbrought.\" And he was like, \"I know, but it has these other religions.\" To share\nwith you a little bit of the chutzpah that I ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1050.0,1080.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"think is often identified by me.\nI'm actually not as . . . I don't feel as radical as many people often attribute\nto me, but I have had some practice and I actually think it does come from my\nearly Jewish upbringing to be able to speak my mind directly when it's\nimportant. Otherwise, I find myself to be more mild-mannered. For some people,\nthat's really hard to believe. I looked at the rabbi and I said, \"We have a\nreally big misunderstanding ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1080.0,1110.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"here. I do not work for you. In fact, you work for\nthe students.\" The poster stayed up. Just as a counterbalance to that story, we\ntussled a lot. A Lot about Hillel changed under my leadership. It was the first\ntime, to my understanding, or at least for a long time, that the Jewish student\n. . . that Hillel at Northwestern deliberately did programing with the Black\nStudent Union. We brought in ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1110.0,1140.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Julius Lester to do a program to talk about the\ncommonalities and the differences between our communities and how we could be\nbetter allies. I had the daunting responsibility to lead during the Gulf War.\nOne of the interesting things is that the rabbi called me up and he told me that\nI had to lead services the night that the war broke out. I think it broke out\nthe night before. And so, 300 Jewish students, which is unheard of for our\nShabbat numbers, were there. I found myself ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1140.0,1170.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"having to lead services and trying\nto remember did I know the trope and there are two different melodies to the\nChatzi Kaddish and the Kaddish Shalem. I was like, \"How am I going to remember?\"\nBut I made it through, and actually it was very empowering, and I actually was a\nspokesperson on campus. At the same time, I became one of the people who spoke\nout about the kind of bias and discrimination that was happening to the Arab\nstudents during this time and pulled together two different vigils for ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1170.0,1200.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"peace and\nthen pulled together a program that I would say has become a little bit of a\nsignature of the way that I try to do things. We had an event in solidarity with\nIsrael, but it really . . . I wanted to shape it so that people of lots of\ndifferent political persuasions could find a voice and have a space there. For\nme, I've always wanted to create Jewish spaces where pluralism is thriving and\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1200.0,1230.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"exciting and, at the same time, that we should stand for something. It's not\njust . . . So, to be able to begin to figure out how to do that as a college\nstudent, felt really important. As I was leaving Hillel, my rabbi gave me a\ngraduation present, and I opened it up. It was a book called Arguing with God A\nJewish Tradition. That gives you a little bit of insight to our relationship.\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1230.0,1260.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Even more so, I wrote him a thank you note in which I said, \"Appreciate the\nbook. I just want you to be clear, I never thought you were God.\" What was\nlovely is many, many, many, many, many years later, either 2007, 2008, when The\nForward started nominating their 50 inspiring rabbis in North America, he and I\nwere on the same list together and it gave us an opportunity. I ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1260.0,1290.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"reached out to\nhim to call him and to thank him for the ways that he helped shape me, both\ndirectly and indirectly. That was just, that to me was a nice kind of way of\nGod's finger in both of us, I think, potentially learning from one another. The\nother thing that I'll say is that, particularly that last year, I became very\naware ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1290.0,1320.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"of the possibility of what Jewish leadership might feel like. It also\nbrought in, I would say, a little bit of depression because I felt at that time\nthat there was going to be no way that I might be able to deepen the sense of\nJewish leadership and still be true to who I am as somebody who is becoming more\ncomfortable identifying as a gay man. I actually couldn't wait to get out of\ncollege. I didn't go to my graduation. I was doing Teach for America next, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1320.0,1350.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"and\nNorthwestern ended so late that it wouldn't have given me a lot of time. They\nwould have given me an exception, they said, but it gave me a great excuse. I\nsaw that I had finished all my finals early. I asked my parents to meet me\nsomewhere in between Chicago [Illinois] and Los Angeles [California] for us to\nhave a private graduation celebration. I can't believe I convinced them to do\nthat. I basically said, \"Look, you come to Chicago, I'm not going to be able to\nsee you but for a couple hours. This way we can really celebrate together.\" ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1350.0,1380.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"It\nwas a great family moment for us. It really, in a lot of ways was a very nice\nmeaningful celebration and something I think I would have far personally\npreferred, but it also gave me an opportunity just to run away and escape. I\nlook back, I feel like I packed my car, did not say goodbye to people, and I\njust left. My first stop was Saint Louis [Missouri]. I feel like I cried all the\nway from Chicago to Saint Louis because I . . . just the weight of what it was\nlike to have been in the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1380.0,1410.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"closet for four years and to have taken on leadership\nin some bold ways, but in some ways not having had the courage to figure out how\nto be able to come out and make a different kind of change while I was there.\n\nBERMAN: When did you actually come out to your family and to your friends?\n\nLESSER: I came out to myself at 17. I just had the sense there was something\ndifferent about me, literally the day after my high ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1410.0,1440.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"school graduation. Then I\ndeveloped friends in the gay community, primarily, and I was out to them as soon\nas I got to college, but in a kind of slow way and that kind of clandestine . .\n. All the bars were in Chicago and Northwestern was safely in Evanston\n[Illinois] and for the most part, I didn't really worry about these two\ndifferent lives. I was able to come out to my sister probably around 18 or ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1440.0,1470.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"19,\nand she was a really strong source of support for me. Just someone who knew me\nwholly. Then, I came out . . . Actually, I was outed to my Teach for America\nCorps in New Orleans [Louisiana]. So, in that way, I wasn't out at my school,\nbut I was out in more facets of my life. In an Atlanta story, one of the things\nthat happened is that I ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1470.0,1500.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"came home for Hanukkah. I had heard about a gay-founded\nsynagogue. Actually, I had visited once before with a friend for actually a\nHanukkah celebration. We walked in and we realized that everybody was what felt\nlike 50 years older than us, but probably 10 to 15 years older than us. We\nlooked around, we walked out immediately, but it was still . . . Here I was,\ncoming home. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1500.0,1530.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I decided to go to services and at that service, a woman that I\nwent to Yeshiva High School with as a student was leading services. She\nannounced at that service that she was going to rabbinical school. It was as if\nsomeone hit the dominos and all of these things started falling. I remembered\nthat I had actually gone to a Reconstructionist seder while I was in Evanston.\nThere's a large Reconstructionist synagogue there, and it was one of the most\nmeaningful Passover seders that ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1530.0,1560.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"connected social justice to the Passover story\nin a way that I had never experienced. It was like the light bulb went off. I\nwas like, \"Wait, this is so obvious. How did I not know?\" At that service, that\nkind of had me begin to think about applying to rabbinical school. I did, and\nwhen I applied to rabbinical school, I made the decision that if I was going to\ndo this, I had to do it with integrity. From that point forward, if I was going\nto get accepted, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1560.0,1590.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I would be out in every single facet of my life. I got\naccepted. I'm 23 years old and I'm about to go to Israel, full ulpan. The last\npeople it feels like that I've come out to are my parents. Basically, with a day\nand a half before I'm leaving the country, I chose to come out to them.\n\nBERMAN: How were you received? How did they . . . ?\n\nLESSER: My sister, who was an idealist, kept ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1590.0,1620.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"saying, \"Oh, you need to tell them\nover Shabbat dinner and make it like a toast. This is something to celebrate.\" I\nreally knew in my heart of hearts that this would not be a celebratory moment\nfor my parents. In some ways, if you kind of looked over my resume, I was this\nkid all throughout high school who had worked with children with disabilities\nand here with Jewish leadership, there were ways where I made . . . There's a\nfamous book in the [LGBT] community called The Best Little Boy in the World and\nin a lot of ways, I felt like ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1620.0,1650.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"here I had been trying to be the best person I\ncould be with this dark secret I felt that would dismantle everything. It just\nreally felt . . . I wasn't able to joyfully tell them over Shabbat dinner. My\nsister and I left the house, and I left them a letter. In that letter I said to\nmy parents, because already, if it was 17 and I was 23, there were six years\nwhere my parents really did not know most of the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1650.0,1680.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"important details of my life,\nthey didn't know any of the details about my dating. I had scary moments where I\ncould have used some support. It just was a lot of internal wrestling. It's not\nas if I was so out on campus that I had lots of gay friends to process things\nwith. I basically came to the recognition that my parents and I had such a\nsurface ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1680.0,1710.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"relationship at that point. I wrote them that, \"I feel like we're coming\nto this place in our lives where we might not have much of a relationship and at\nthis moment, that's my fault. And so, I want to let you know, this is who I am.\nAs a gay person, I want you to make the choice whether you want to be in\nrelationship with me. I know that I have missed having you in my life and so\nthis is my way to open up the door and say, I want ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1710.0,1740.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"you a part of my life.\"\nNaively, because I don't think this was true, I said, \"I know this will take\ntime, so I will give you some time, but you don't have forever.\" My parents\ndidn't receive me all that well. I came home and they were in separate rooms\nwith both the doors locked, with neither of them answering my sister and me. If\nyou can just imagine what that felt like, that you've ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1740.0,1770.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"just poured out your heart\nto your parents. Neither of them are talking to you. You know they're not\ntalking to themselves. Something has happened. I don't even know how I fell\nasleep that night. My dad did, my father was a cardiologist, he had rounds to\nmake that morning. He came into my bedroom early, five thirty, six o'clock, woke\nme up and he did say at that point, \"Josh, I have some concerns, but I want to\nlet you know I love you. You're my son.\" When I ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1770.0,1800.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"finally got up, my mom had\ndisappeared from the house, and she was gone the entire night. Didn't see her.\nDid not see her until Sunday afternoon, where I am packed and about to leave for\nthe airport and she comes in. She's not talking to me. I said, \"Mom, I'm about\nto leave for Israel. You're not going even say goodbye? You're not going to give\nme a hug?\" Nothing. So being the, you know, dramatic Jewish kid that I was, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1800.0,1830.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I\nsaid, \"Mom, I want you to know, I think you don't realize, Syria is bombing the\nnorth of Israel as we speak. If something should happen to me while I am in\nJerusalem, you will never forgive yourself. So, are you sure you don't want to\nsay goodbye?\" That's when she burst and started yelling, kind of yelling the\nthings that parents, other parents have yelled, which is like, \"How could you\nspring this surprise on us?\" ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1830.0,1860.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"and at the same time, I've known this my entire\nlife. What came out was that she was also really angry that I was becoming a\nrabbi. Honestly, that was not necessarily, not even . . . that's a nice way to\nput it. Frankly, it was not my parent's first choice for me to become a rabbi. I\nthink in some ways that felt like it was putting a little bit of a wedge, just\ngiven who they were. It also, I think it confused them. Then when I came out, I\nthink they both worried ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1860.0,1890.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"about what would my reception be in the Jewish\ncommunity. They had grown up with the same messages that I did. So, my mom, very\nupset, she's like, \"What are you doing with your life? You're committing\nprofessional suicide.\" I looked at her and I said, \"Mom, are you telling me that\nnow I have to become a hairdresser? Should I go to floral school to become a\nflorist? Like, what are you saying?\" Truth is, she did not hug me goodbye, and ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1890.0,1920.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I\ngot on the plane to Israel. What I should say here is that both my parents,\nshortly after, went on a learning journey and both, throughout their lives,\nbecame such strong allies and supporters in ways that . . . I wouldn't have come\nback to Atlanta to serve as the rabbi at Congregation Bet Haverim if my parents\nweren't, not just okay with it, but happy and excited about that. A ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1920.0,1950.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"lot happened\nin those six years of rabbinical school where they became really, I would say,\nmodels of what allies can be. For me, it's a really helpful story to have,\nbecause when you're in it, the campaign of It Gets Better . . . when you're in\nit . . . I went to Israel thinking I might not have a relationship with my\nparents or with my mom anymore. My dad was the less emotive, feeling person. It\nwas really my mom ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1950.0,1980.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"that I had shared so much with. So, I went to Israel thinking,\nokay, I might not have this relationship. One of the things that I had done from\n17 to 23 was learn how to be self-reliant. I think that happens to a number of\nLGBT people, because when you're afraid that you're going to lose everybody, you\nhave to become deeply dependent on your own self and become a very independent\nperson. But I went with a little bit of grief. About six weeks after being in\nIsrael, I receive a letter from my mom basically saying, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1980.0,2010.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\"Josh, you want\neverything right away. It takes some time. And I've done some reading and we\nwill figure this out together.\" I was very grateful.\n\nBERMAN: I have so many questions. These experiences that you had with your own\nparents. Have you used that over the years with your congregants, maybe young\npeople who ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2010.0,2040.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"have been afraid or, not even your congregants, but within the\ngeneral community to encourage them and to talk to them about how that\nexperience was for you?\n\nLESSER: Absolutely. I feel like that, as I was saying earlier, that I have a\nbold vision for our Jewish community, and I think that a lot of the sadness and\nthe pain ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2040.0,2070.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"that I endured had a lot to do with the Jewish messages and\nparticularly the religious messages that aren't needed. I think, looking at my\n22 years here, certainly that there has been a tide change. Not that everybody\nis as fully, robustly accepting or welcoming, but the possibility to let people\nknow that that part of ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2070.0,2100.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"our spiritual growth is about this deep acceptance of\nourself, and I would say the divine within. A lot of that comes from these kinds\nof stories. It has made me want to be a parenting kind of figure. One of the\nthings I talk to with parents is that it's really important to have other\nadults, responsible adults in your children's lives to be able to have support\nand perspective. I've wanted to be one of those people that kids ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2100.0,2130.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"can turn to,\nand a number of kids have come out. Or when a parent struggles, I think that's\nwhere I've actually been able to make the most difference. To me, the messages\nand the teachings around teshuva about the kinds of return\nand repair that we can make have been really important from my early upbringing,\nmy Jewish education. Then you partner that with the experiences that I've had\nand being able to say that parents who sometimes have felt like they've ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2130.0,2160.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"missed\nthe mark, it's never too late and that there are ways where things can be\nrepaired. A lot of this is about living our lives with integrity. When I look\nback at how I chose to handle and do things with my parents, I could have done\nit better as well. So, to be able to understand that it's not a blame . . .\nReally, it's about how do we foster a sense of appreciation relationships. The\nthing to me that's even more important is that this isn't just about being ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2160.0,2190.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"gay\nor straight or cisgender, transgender. There are lots of kinds of choices that\nour children make that sometimes parents are not fully accepting. Whether that's\na career choice or whether that is about schooling. I think that I've been able\nto really help sit with parents around their grief, but also help them\nunderstand that some of what they're doing is projecting the future for their\nchild that they've wanted, rather than to find out more about their child ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2190.0,2220.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"and\nallow that future to manifest, and to show up as a support. I would say\nsecondarily, it's one of the reasons why I've been such a supportive presence\nfor interfaith families. I've pulled parents aside and I said, \"Look, I\nunderstand that you have some pain about your Jewish child's decision of life\npartner, and you and I can talk about that. But if this couple ends up ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2220.0,2250.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"having\ngrandchildren, if you continue to treat your future son-in-law or\ndaughter-in-law in the ways that I've been witnessing, you're not going to have\na relationship with your grandchildren. I'd love to help you process the grief\nthat you have so that you can get to a place of accepting what is. Otherwise,\nit's going to have damaging repercussions that I know you don't want. I know\nthat at the heart of it, you are really ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2250.0,2280.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"deeply committed to being connected.\nOtherwise, you wouldn't have had had these desires for your child in the first\nplace.\" I believe, as a Jew, that we have to recognize people's humanity first.\nThere are so many teachings about what we can do, and I feel like I learned that\nalong with the journey with my parents.\n\nBERMAN: The Reconstruction movement, that is what . . . where you found your\nvoice. Where you found . . . ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2280.0,2310.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Has that evolved as well, the movement?\n\nLESSER: Reconstructionist Judaism is interesting. One of the things that I love\nabout it is that it was never meant to be a movement. It was never meant to be a\ndenomination. It was really about a paradigm about how to bring a Jewish\ncommunity together. In some ways, I think having served in a city that I grew up\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2310.0,2340.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"in and feeling connected in the ways to the Orthodox community, with Shearith\nIsrael, the Conservative community, and a lot of my partnerships and allies with\nthe Reform community. That's something I've really wanted to create here in\nAtlanta. I feel like, in the 22 years here, I haven't had just the desire to\nserve and build Bet Haverim. I have wanted to make Atlanta a more welcoming and\nbetter place for all people. I would say that that ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2340.0,2370.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"is a Reconstructionist kind\nof philosophy without it being kind of tied to a movement. I think that we have\ncontinue to evolve. There are ways that we are still rooted as a movement, but\njust as we all kind of march to this post-denominational time, I think our\nmovements are going to be in a precarious place, if they're holding on. I think\nbecause we've been a small movement, we've been able to ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2370.0,2400.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"take . . . we're a\nsmaller ship to turn. We've been able to evolve and adapt. I think that we've\nbeen the movement that's embraced innovation more, that has seen Judaism\nflourish outside of congregational spaces. What I often experience is that the\nReform movement traditionally, and I would say more and more the Conservative\nmovement, who are wealthier, see these changes and then are able to put some\nheft ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2400.0,2430.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"behind some of these innovations. Then they begin to flourish. In many ways\n. . . I've been on the board of the Reconstructionist movement and I'm on the\nboard of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. So, there are ways that\nI'm tied to a movement, but my vision is much larger than just a denomination. I\nthink that if it were to fall away, I would still have that sense of where I fit\nwithin the Jewish community.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2430.0,2460.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"BERMAN: How did you then . . . You said you first went to Bet Haverim when . . .\nand you were . . . the congregation seemed older and not very something that . .\n. Did they hire you while you were in rabbinical school, or did you come back to\nAtlanta and know that they needed a rabbi?\n\nLESSER: While I was in rabbinical school, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2460.0,2490.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"they hired their first rabbi. Before\nthat they were using student rabbis and I was still young in the process that I\nwasn't available to apply. Some of my good friends worked for Bet Haverim as a\nstudent. At that point, my mom and my sister joined the synagogue as members.\nThey left Shearith Israel and joined Bet Haverim and that first wave of straight\nfolks that ended up joining the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2490.0,2520.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"synagogue. The rabbi that they hired, they only\nhired her part time. She worked part time at Emory. Ultimately, it was not a\nrelationship that worked out well for either of them. Meanwhile, I had had an\ninternship at the world's largest LGBT synagogue, CBST, Congregation Beit\nSimchat Torah in New York and I applied for a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2520.0,2550.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"pulpit position in Baltimore\n[Maryland]. Now, what you should know is, at that time everyone had told me,\nexcept for this one internship, that I needed to figure out whether I wanted to\nbe a Hillel rabbi or a chaplain but that out gay rabbis, even in the\nReconstructionist movement, were not going to be able to be hired. I tried, I\nthink I was among the first students to apply to positions out. I applied to\nthis congregation in Baltimore out. They had adopted a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2550.0,2580.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"welcoming statement of\nLGBT people. However, they never thought that that would apply to their rabbi or\ntheir rabbinical student. The hiring committee made a really interesting and\nweird choice of not telling the congregation that I was gay, even though I was\nout in my interviews. I learned the hard way, as I said something about a\nshabbat that I couldn't come in town to that then kind of connected to me being\nout and everybody was in ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2580.0,2610.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"shock. I had to navigate that. I actually thought I was\ngoing to be let go. I was able to come back to that congregation and say to\nthem, \"Hey, you know, you have this welcoming statement. Clearly, out of all the\nstudents that you interviewed, I felt like the best choice. Let's see how it\ngoes. Here's how I'm going to approach this. I'm not going to make this the only\nissue I talk about. That's not why I'm becoming a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2610.0,2640.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"rabbi. But what you need to\nknow is that this is who I am, and I want to be able to talk about my life. If I\ntalk about my partner at the time, that's what it means. But I want to do it in\nan integrated way.\" I was with this community for two years. They offered me a\nposition and I jokingly said to them . . . They asked me, \"If we give you a\nposition after you graduate, you know, would you accept it?\" And I said, \"Yes,\nexcept for if Atlanta . . . if the congregation in Atlanta opens up, I'd like to\nbe back ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2640.0,2670.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"home with my family.\" Lo and behold, about a month later, it was\nannounced that the placement was open. I applied as a senior, my last year in\nrabbinical school. Ultimately, while I think one or two other people applied,\nthey withdrew their applications and so I was Bet Haverim's only choice. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2670.0,2700.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"They\nbrought me down many times to see if I was the right person. I think I caught on\nthat because they didn't have a rabbi, they kept bringing me down just so that I\ncould fill the services that they needed filled. It became pretty clear that we\nwere a good fit. For me, in Baltimore, they'd had a contentious leaving. The\nrabbi had left under contentious ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2700.0,2730.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"circumstances. And the same thing happened in\nAtlanta. I had healed what happened in the Baltimore community and I thought,\neither that's a fluke or I know something and that Bet Haverim will teach me\nwhether it was a fluke or not. I definitely knew I was coming here facing a\nchallenge, and I was up for that challenge.\n\nBERMAN: You mentioned in one of your interviews that when you first started at\nBet Haverim, you were a glorified ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2730.0,2760.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"service leader. When and how did that change?\n\nLESSER: If you remember when I said that I walked into the synagogue and people\nwere much older. The same thing was true by the time I was ordained. I still . .\n. I was 29 years old. I was young. I've shared this with some members of the\ncongregation. One of the things about LGBT-founded ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2760.0,2790.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/94","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"synagogues is that there\nhaven't been a lot of role models of congregations before them, and they tend to\nbe younger, newer congregations. There are a lot of things that they're not\naware of. The truth is I needed, even though I won the . . . there was an award\nfor congregational service, I won that as a rabbinical student. All of the signs\nwere there that I was going to potentially be a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2790.0,2820.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/95","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"solid rabbi. But I still needed\nmentorship, I still needed support. I sought my own mentorship. I had a funny\nseries of conversations or meetings with Atlanta rabbis, none of whom became my\nmentor. Couldn't find a mentor within the Reconstructionist movement. There was\na lot of fear, I would just say, about a gay male rabbi. I actually think that\nthere's been a very different journey with lesbian rabbis and gay male rabbis.\nThat ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2820.0,2850.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/96","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"said, it took probably about five or six years in order to kind of be seen\nas a rabbi with heft. I kind of felt like I was the rabbi to the kids, and then\nI was a ritual chair slash service leader for the adults. I think when you\ncontinue to grow, and I withstood some of the challenging pieces, there was a\nmisunderstanding that I had with the board. They weren't sure that they wanted\nto grow. I definitely was a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2850.0,2880.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/97","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"rabbi who wanted to grow, I had a vision. They\ndidn't know if they would be able to continue to afford me full-time. I was the\nfirst full time rabbi. So, at this time, Jacob Schreiber, who was the executive\ndirector of Hillel, we had met on a World Pilgrims tour. We were on the first\nWorld Pilgrims trip to Turkey of Jews, Christians, and Muslims traveling\ntogether. I was the only rabbi on that trip, and we became friendly and he ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2880.0,2910.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/98","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"liked\nthe way that I navigated and talked about Jewish ritual to this group. He said,\n\"We need you at Hillel. Will you be the Hillel rabbi? You'll have to apply. But\nI think that the students will love you.\" I told him no twice. He came to me a\nthird time. Then when the congregation said, \"You might we might just have one\nmore year in your contract. We don't know if we'll be able to afford you.\" I\nsaid, \"Look, Hillel is asking me to apply. I've said no, but I might need to if\nyou don't think . . . \" And so the congregation and ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2910.0,2940.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/99","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hillel split my time. I was\nbasically 30 hours at both places. I was able to write and present a vision to\nthe congregation which was voted in unanimously. It was called Fiddling Under\nOne Roof. We were in four separate buildings, and I had this vision of us moving\ninto one space. But there was a lot of other kinds of programmatic changes that\nI was suggesting, and also a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2940.0,2970.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/100","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"philosophy about how we take our LGBT-founded\nvalues and really expand it to being more welcoming to Jews of color, interfaith\nfamilies, single parents, economic diversity. When a congregation votes in a\nvision unanimously that a rabbi presents, it's pretty significant. I went back\nto Hillel and said, \"I'm going to be staying at Bet Haverim.\" I think that was\nreally the moment where that shifted.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2970.0,3000.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/101","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"BERMAN: That leads me to my next question, because I've often wondered, because\nI have friends who have been members at Bet Haverim, both gay and straight. I\nwas wondering how some of the founders felt. The group that really started the\ncongregation, when it started to become more inclusive, was there some antagonism?\n\nLESSER: There definitely was tension. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3000.0,3030.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/102","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"There was tension before I came, there was\na apocryphal story at Bet Haverim about how a small group of straight folks\nasked if they could join and what exactly was said, there's a bit of a debate,\nbut it was something like, \"If we come, we won't come silently.\" What the\nstraight folks who were saying that meant like, \"We love it here, so we're going\nto tell our friends.\" What some of the gay ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3030.0,3060.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/103","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"folks . . . got a little bit nervous\nof, \"What do you mean? They're going to come and intentionally make it more\nstraight.\" Even before I got there, there were interesting debates within the\ncongregation. Could a straight person be the president of Bet Haverim.\nUltimately one of the voices . . . And that was a very contentious argument. The\nvoice that prevailed was people need to be treated equally in that sense and so,\nof course, somebody who is not LGBT could become the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3060.0,3090.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/104","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"president. My vision was\ndefinitely different. I think that there was this tension between were they\ngoing to be a small kind of chavurah-like synagogue or were they going to be\nlarger? We often had parlor meetings. We would talk about it, I think . . . I\neven think in this moment where I've transitioned to emeritus, that is giving\npeople a little bit of pause, is that as long as the rabbi was gay and part of\nthe LGBTQ community and was visible and working on these issues, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3090.0,3120.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/105","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"that could be\nenough. I think that a lot of that rested on my shoulders. One of the things\nthat I told them, and I didn't realize how true it would be is I said, \"Look, I\nunderstand that we are giving up something really profound by opening our doors.\nThere's a level of comfort and care that we have here. Being able to speak a\nsimilar language, and the straight folks that are already here are kind ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3120.0,3150.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/106","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"of\nprivileged onlookers who are safe enough, comfortable enough to participate in\nthe in-language.\" I said, \"That is a fine choice.\" I was really clear with them.\nI said, \"If that's the choice you want, I'm probably not the right rabbi for\nyou. But I believe that if we can be more welcoming and take these founding\nvalues of the founders,\" and that's one of the things I would do is talk not\njust about the founders themselves, but about their values and expand them\nJewishly, \"that we would be doing a particular ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3150.0,3180.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/107","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"kind of tikkun olam that was\nneeded.\" I said, \"Think about it. Straight folks come to this community. Their\nchildren will grow up in a synagogue where either they will become strong allies\nto other LGBT kids, or if they themselves come out, they will be in a community\nwhere they know that they are loved. Their ease with who they are as Jews will\nnot be the painful struggle that each of ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3180.0,3210.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/108","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"us has had. For me, that is worth\ngiving up a tremendous amount of comfort if we can build that future. That is\nhow I would define tikkun olam.\" I think that that was compelling enough for\nenough people, that kind of vision for the next generation. Of course, that's a\nvery Jewish concept, that we are making the space. I did a survey, probably and\nit's now been about seven years ago, but I wondered if actually either being\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3210.0,3240.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/109","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Reconstructionist or having an LGBT-founded identity was important. I surveyed\nthe community to understand what was most important to it. Being an LGBT-founded\nsynagogue was the most important thing, and it was overwhelmingly so for the\nstraight members of the synagogue. That was profound. That to me shows the kind\nof allyship was built that we hoped. And secondly, that Reconstructionism was\nimportant. That to me was a win. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3240.0,3270.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/110","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"At certain points I wondered should we\naffiliate with the Reform movement? We'll have better resources. Should we not\nbe affiliated, like CBST? To understand that Reconstructionism was an important\npart of the philosophy was very heartening to me. Of course, music and\ncreativity was another piece.\n\nBERMAN: How were you accepted within the rabbinical community here in Atlanta?\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3270.0,3300.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/111","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"LESSER: First, I just want to take it on myself in that I knew that there was\ngoing to be challenges and I came in with a chip on my shoulder so that there\nare some ways where I'm sure I made it more difficult than it needed to be. But\nthe first meeting of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association that was held, it was in\nAugust, that I attended, and it was bring your ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3300.0,3330.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/112","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"spouse to the meeting. It was\nkind of like a barbecue. They set up a line of established rabbis. Then there\nwas a whole cadre of us new folks. They asked us to come up and shake every\nperson's hand and introduce. Somehow, I ended up being the last person in the\nline and as I started shaking rabbis hands, people started peeling off. There\nwere people who wouldn't shake my hands.\n\nBERMAN: Was that more in ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3330.0,3360.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/113","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"the Conservative and the Orthodox communities?\n\nLESSER: Yes.\n\nBERMAN: Rather than the Reform. Did the Reform rabbis, did they feel more\nwelcoming to you?\n\nLESSER: For sure. I think . . . it wasn't subtle. A number of people noticed\nthat this was happening. There were people like, \"Oh, come sit with us! Sit at\nthis table!\" Some of them were some of my new colleagues. That has actually been\none of the things that's been really challenging is that so many of the rabbis\nthat started with me moved on very ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3360.0,3390.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/114","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"quickly. That was challenging. What was\ninteresting is that there is a little bit of a rising star quality to my time\nhere in Atlanta. Even some of the Reform rabbis began to resent that I was\nincluded in a particular way. There was something called STAR, Synagogues\nTransformation and Renewal, and they did a meeting here in Atlanta but then they\ninvited a very select group of North American ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3390.0,3420.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/115","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"rabbis. I went up to, I believe it\nwas in Chicago, I went up with I think there were four rabbis from Atlanta that\nwere selected, all legacy rabbis. The one that I had experienced being the\nkindest to me came up to me and was like, \"What are you doing here?\" Like,\nshocked. I never completely felt like I was on solid ground in my first number\nof years. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3420.0,3450.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/116","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I would say that the rabbi of the congregation that I grew up in was\none of the people who would not shake my hand and would not talk to me and\ndidn't talk to me for years. He was someone that I would practice, what I would\ncall like . . . I would go up to all of the rabbis who either wouldn't address\nme or, if they did, sometimes hostilely. Because the other thing that happened\nis that Trembling Before G-d, an LGBT Orthodox movie, came out very close to\nwhen I first started. There were lots of film ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3450.0,3480.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/117","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"festival conversations and it\nplayed a number of times. I had lots of opportunities to be on panels with\nrabbis kind of pointing out terrible things about me. One event, someone from\nthe audience called me 'sodomite'. I try to diffuse things in two ways. One is\nthrough humor, to which I said to that person, \"I'm sorry, you have me all\nwrong. I'm not a Sodomite. I'm from Gomorrah.\" ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3480.0,3510.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/118","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"And, you know, so it got a laugh.\nBut what I would do is I would go up to these rabbis and I would extend my hand\nand I would say, \"Hi, how are you?\" I would be persistently kind and\ncompassionate and probably annoying. I'm sure it wasn't subtle. What was\ninteresting with that rabbi in particular, that . . .\n\nBERMAN: Was that Rabbi Wilson?\n\nLESSER: No. I'm a little nervous. I've been trying not to . . .\n\nBERMAN: I know, but it's ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3510.0,3540.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/119","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"history.\n\nLESSER: Rabbi Kunis. One of the things that happened is, maybe five or six years\nafter being here, we're at the kosher Kroger in Toco Hill. I'm shopping for\nPassover and he's shopping for Passover. He turns over and looks at me, I look\nat him, with smile and he says, \"Chag sameach [Hebrew: happy holidays], I hope\nyou have a nice Passover.\" Then, we've talked ever since. Like my parents, there\nare just ways where ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3540.0,3570.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/120","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"things have to change. I really try hard not to give up on\npeople. I mean, I think today, I don't try so hard to be liked by everybody. I\nthink it was really important, and it felt really hurtful. I would have liked to\nhave had a relationship with Shearith Israel. There is a way where just walking\ninto that building ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3570.0,3600.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/121","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"floods me with so many positive memories. I loved my bar\nmitzvah, I loved looking at those stained-glass walls and making out the shapes\nas a child and counting how many circles, how many . . . I remember playing with\nmy dad's fringes, his tzitzits. It's just an embodied experience and to walk\ninto that building and to have the rabbi not acknowledge you was ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3600.0,3630.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/122","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"such a deep,\npainful kind of peace. The other thing that happened is that in my first two\nyears, I received a number of death threats.\n\nBERMAN: You mention that in one of the articles I read. Were they just unsigned,\nor did you know who . . . ?\n\nLESSER: Yes, they were unsigned, and it was hard to tell. I think some did come\nfrom Jewish folks and some came from Christian folks. There was a lot of way . .\n. I was in the press a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3630.0,3660.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/123","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"lot in my first probably five years, and so I think it\nwas related to that. I didn't take them as seriously as I would take them today.\nLuckily, no harm came to me. Similarly, just to connect it through, just to kind\nof . . . from a parent's perspective, and this chokes me up a little bit, but my\ndad died of pancreatic cancer. It was ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3660.0,3690.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/124","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"during . . . Leading up to our last, not\nour most previous one, but the election between Clinton and Trump. I was doing a\nlot of things, speaking out politically and close to my dad's deathbed, he just\nsaid, \"Josh, I'm worried someone is going to shoot ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3690.0,3720.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/125","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"you.\"\n\nBERMAN: You want to take a minute?\n\nLESSER: No, I'm okay. I think that for me, why there's so much sadness is that\nmy father died with that worry in our world. I have been less concerned about\nthat happening. There are different times. For some reason, I've been in Israel\nfor almost every major war except for this last one. My parents would ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3720.0,3750.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/126","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"get upset\nthat I was going, and I was just like, \"Look, if something, God forbid,\nsomething to happen to me while I'm doing this work that I love and care about,\nit will be okay. Just know that it will be okay.\" I think that I had felt that\nmy parents had come to peace with the choices that I've made but I think that\nthis uptick in violence, whether it's antisemitism and anti-LGBT ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3750.0,3780.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/127","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"sentiment, that\nhe still lived under that kind of fear as he was dying is heartbreaking to me.\nFor our world. For him, but also for our world, because we are moving to this\nplace where people can't express or fight for their civil rights, even with a\nsense of disagreement, without this deep threat of annihilation, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3780.0,3810.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/128","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"is really what\nI think it is, on some level or another. When I think about being welcomed . . .\nI came in with a lot of bravado. In some ways, it's probably good that I had a\nchip on my shoulder for my own sense of well-being. If I look at then, and I\nlook at now, they were two very volatile times. I think I have a deeper sense of\nmy own sensitivity and my own vulnerability ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3810.0,3840.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/129","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"and my own gentleness and probably\nmy own mortality now than I did then, where I think I would have taken a lot of\nthose threats much more seriously than I would today.\n\nBERMAN: Another aspect of one of the articles I read about . . . that you were\ninterviewed for, was that you experienced antisemitism within the LGBTQ\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3840.0,3870.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/130","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"community. That was surprising to me. I suppose it's surprising to me because I\nwould think, within the community, having faced discrimination . . . in so many\nways, that antisemitism would be, I don't know . . .\n\nLESSER: An anathema to . . .\n\nBERMAN: Yes, an anathema.\n\nLESSER: Unfortunately, because we're human at the core, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3870.0,3900.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/131","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"there are ways that we\nalways try to create ingroups and outgroups. I think just the same way that one\nwould expect that Jews wouldn't be racist, and we know that we have racism and\nforms of white supremacy even within our Jewish community, when there's a common\nenemy. I think that that is an unfortunate fact. I've experienced antisemitism\nin some aspects of the Latino community. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3900.0,3930.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/132","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I do think that there's often more of a\nplace where one can lead someone towards empathy because of their history, but\nit doesn't preclude them from having biases. One of the things about Atlanta,\nand particularly Atlanta's gay community, is it's one of the largest communities\nin the United States and particularly in the South. It's that we have LGBT folks\nfrom all over the rural South that come to Atlanta, and so many of them have\nnever met another Jew. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3930.0,3960.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/133","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Many of them grew up in small Pentecostal or Baptist\ncommunities where day in, day out, they heard that Jews killed Christ. Or these\nmessages about fearing the Jews, without there ever being another person to\ncounter those stories. So, as somebody who is so visibly Jewish, sometimes\nantisemitism was more benign where they're like, \"I've ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3960.0,3990.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/134","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"never met a Jew,\" and\nthen would bring some of their more ignorant questions. Other times it was very\nclear that there is a preferred appearance. Some of the kinds of . . . I'll say\nin the gay male community that sometimes the emphasis on physical appearance and\nthen what is acceptable from that appearance, in the same way as that virtually\nevery single ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3990.0,4020.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/135","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"woman in the world can experience based on what is the standard of\nbeauty, and that if you are part of an ethnic or cultural group that doesn't\nreflect that standard of beauty, then you definitely feel like you are kind of\nput . . . or sometimes cruelly treated just on that basis. I think that that's\nthe case. I also feel like, within a lot of communities, that Jews are often\nseen as the success story, like ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4020.0,4050.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/136","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\"Jews made it in America.\" It's as if it's okay\nto be biased towards them without really fully understanding or knowing that\nhistory. Just look at Marjorie Taylor Greene, who, going to the [United States]\nHolocaust [Memorial] Museum at 50 and being like, \"Oh, I'm sorry.\" I think that,\nperhaps rightfully so, people have kind of painted her as an ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4050.0,4080.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/137","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"imbecile but he\ntruth is that she is not that different than a number of people who live around\nus. I think that we have to not write her off as a one-off, but understand that\neven in the gay community, there are people who have grown up with that lack of\neducation that people like Marjorie Taylor Greene also suffered from.\n\nBERMAN: Do you work within the community to ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4080.0,4110.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/138","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"enlighten folks about Judaism within\nthe LGBTQ community to . . . so whether . . . I guess I'm asking not even . . .\nthere must be dislike of the 'other' no matter what group you're from. Is that\npart of your overall goal to just . . . ?\n\nLESSER: I would say it certainly has ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4110.0,4140.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/139","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"been. In part, it's why I've been aligned\nwith as many different political causes. I want to be able to show people that\nJews are supportive of anti-racist work, and I want to be at the Capitol around\nimportant issues. So, for me, it isn't so didactic as like, \"Here, I'm going to\nexplain.\" It is much more a very thoughtful and intentional ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4140.0,4170.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/140","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"embodiment of how I\nshow up as a Jew. It's why I wear my yarmulke often, so that people can visibly\nidentify that I am a Jew, and this is what I am doing as a Jew. Because at the\nfoundation, I believe that change happens relationally. I also . . . I know that\nthere needs to be systemic change, which is why I'm advocating for law changes.\nBut Gandhi once said that laws will only take you so far, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4170.0,4200.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/141","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"true conversion of\nhearts and minds has to happen one on one. So, I show up in places where often\nJews do not as a way to say I am an accessible person who am allying with you in\nthis place. I've done it with the Muslim community, for instance, and I've felt\nlike it has then given me opportunities to talk about issues that have typically\nseparated Jews and Muslims and help us ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4200.0,4230.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/142","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"focus on the ways that we are together.\nIt's why I've participated in World Pilgrims or was the first Jewish president\nof the Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta. It has been very much to demonstrate\nthis is what this is what a rabbi looks like. There are T-shirts now that a lot\nof people wear, particularly rabbis of color, our women rabbis, that say 'this\nis what a rabbi looks like.' And I often wear my yarmulke to say, \"This is what\na rabbi looks like and this is what a rabbi does, and this is where a rabbi\nshows up.\" I think those are the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4230.0,4260.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/143","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ways where it helps open up and it makes it so\nthat people can come and talk. I would say for the longest time, I felt like I\nwas serving some of the largest numbers of unaffiliated Jews in this community\nbecause of that kind of visibility. Actually, in the gay community, a number of\npeople who are struggling religiously, but not Jewish, would come to find me and\nthen I would send them to ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4260.0,4290.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/144","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"welcoming churches. I used to joke with churches like\nOakhurst Baptist [Church], which is a very welcoming community, that I needed to\nstart getting a commission for how many people I was referring them to.\n\nBERMAN: We only have . . . I know you have to leave at one-thirty and it's about\none-fifteen now. I just wanted to ask you about a couple of your\naccomplishments. The things that you've been so proud of helping to ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4290.0,4320.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/145","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"create. The\none was the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity,\nSOJOURN. Could you speak to that a little bit?\n\nLESSER: When I first came to Atlanta, within that first year, alongside some of\nthe more painful pieces of not being so welcomed, I felt like it was the\nfloodgates opening that people who were either closeted themselves or had a\nchild coming out started reaching out to ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4320.0,4350.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/146","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"me and I realized very quickly that I\nwasn't going to be able to serve the congregation and also this need. There are\nrabbis who are being asked for the first time to marry somebody. I remember a\nReform colleague of mine calling me up and saying, \"Hey, I've never done a gay\nwedding before. Can you walk me through this?\" I realized that there was a lot\nof need and there was only one of me. At that time, Jewish Federation of Greater\nAtlanta was calling for grant proposals for ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4350.0,4380.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/147","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"underserved populations. I was like,\n\"Oh, LGBT folks, that's an underserved population.\" I wrote this grant, and I\nsubmitted it. David Sarnat and Ellen Mazer were the two heads at the time. I got\na call, I think it was from Ellen, but from one of them that basically said,\n\"Josh, we loved this proposal, and we went back to read what it is that we\nrequested. We realized that we never put in our ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4380.0,4410.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/148","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"true intention. When we meant\nunderserved populations, we meant regional populations like East Cobb, and we\ndid not mean populations in terms of demographics. We're going to hold on to\nthis and see if there's a time.\" I get a call maybe six, seven months later\nsaying that there is a fund that is being set up that they think that they can\nfund this from. At that time, it was called the Rainbow ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4410.0,4440.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/149","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Center. I had it widely\nmapped out that it would be an education place, it would be a place for I\u0026R, for\ninformation resources, that it would be a place where people could get\ncounseling and that we would partner with the ADL [Anti-Defamation League], with\nJF\u0026CS [Jewish Family \u0026 Career Services] and one other organization . . . and Bet\nHaverim. It was very ambitious, which unfortunately is my signature. I think I'm\ntrying to edit now in my older age. The only ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4440.0,4470.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/150","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"hitch was that the Jewish\nFederation said that they did not want a synagogue to be the fiscal sponsor, so\nthey made JF\u0026CS the fiscal sponsor. In some ways a lot of people mistakenly\nthink, including JF\u0026CS for a large period of time, that the Rainbow Center was\ntheir program. By no doubt that they put in so much time and energy . . . I get\nwhat happened. I look back at it now. Gary Miller and I were also on the first\nWorld Pilgrim and he and I developed a long ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4470.0,4500.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/151","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"friendship from that, so we work\ntogether. But, at a time, it became evident when some of our ability to raise\nfunds was capped by them that we needed to expand. Throughout our time, we've\nbeen, we've wrestled. Is this an organization to serve the Jewish community or\nis it a Jewish approach to serve the LGBT community and its allies and those\nfamily members? In a lot of ways, I think that we're now reexamining that. But\nwe really have been a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4500.0,4530.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/152","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"cornerstone in the Jewish community, bringing so many\ndifferent congregations together. I was at the first training, which was at Etz\nChaim. It's great that a Conservative synagogue was the first one. And so that's\nwhat . . . there are unexpected partners everywhere. To be able to see the kinds\nof education that we've been able to bring. I think that the Jewish community is\nbetter for it. I would say that in its earlier years, I felt very foundational,\nbut ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4530.0,4560.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/153","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"much of its success is built on the back of Rebecca Staple-Wax as . . . the\nfirst two years she wasn't the executive director, but ever since then.\nEssentially, she's been the founding executive director and I try to be a good\nfounder and get out of the way and come in when I've been invited. I've had an\nadvisory role at that point.\n\nBERMAN: I guess the big question is why . . . You're young, why retire ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4560.0,4590.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/154","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"from the congregation?\n\nLESSER: Great. I love this question . . . I've been beginning to say the rumors\nof my retirement are greatly exaggerated. I think, emeritus, that status implies\nretirement. I am by far not retired. I actually, in the three weeks that I've\nbeen emeritus, I was like, \"Oh my gosh, I'm so busy.\" That said, I've been 22\nyears in the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4590.0,4620.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/155","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"same place. I've been courted for many different kinds of\npositions. There's a way where Bet Haverim and I felt like this was the right\nfit for a lot of reasons. I would say for the last number of years I've been\ngrowing, I would say, a bit bolder in my vision. As someone who doesn't have\nchildren, but who had always wanted children, legacy and impact are really\nimportant to me because it means something very differently when you don't have\nkids. I'm ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4620.0,4650.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/156","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"really . . . I've been wrestling with this question, and I've told Bet\nHaverim when we've negotiated that, \"In terms of staying, what can we provide\nyou?\" I'm interested in legacy and impact. It's about what I can do. I would\nsay, respectfully, that there's been this tug where, because they've wanted to\nkeep me, I feel like that they've allowed me to kind of expand a little bit more\nbut there's also this need and this desire to be really ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4650.0,4680.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/157","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"well-served within the\nwalls. A bunch of things happened during the pandemic. There's something that\nI've been studying called post-traumatic growth. I think I had a post-traumatic\ngrowth. I just found myself not ceasing from work. I was working on so many\ndifferent things, both for the congregation, but I started these two Facebook\ngroups that helped organize clergy, one all over the United States, one just\nJewish community. One was interfaith. One was the Jewish ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4680.0,4710.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/158","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"community about how we\nwere going to do High Holy Days. I wrote a chapter for a book. I was on three\ndifferent podcasts. It just . . . I began to see, with some of our efforts for\nHigh Holy Days . . . I pulled together this insane amount of projects for a High\nHoly Day endeavor, because I was afraid we weren't going to bring in . . . We\nwere one of the first communities here not to have ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4710.0,4740.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/159","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"tickets. And there is a way\nwhere donations have supported us. I was just really fearful, given everything\nthat we were going to lose membership, all of this. So I created something I\ncalled the Obama model, which I thought we would pull in a little bit of money\nfrom a lot of places. All of that said, we ended up having a global impact.\nSomething like 10,000 people tuned into our services within 24 hours. We had\npeople from different parts of the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4740.0,4770.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/160","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"world saying, where can we find Judaism like\nthis? In some ways, I think it freaked out my Board in a way that . . . I just\ncalled it my board. It's not my board, the congregation's board. I think it\noverwhelmed them and it excited me. I would have developed this. It turned into\n. . . I wasn't at this meeting, but they focused on something . . . our High\nHoly Days were far more ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4770.0,4800.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/161","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"successful under COVID than we could have ever imagined\nand instead of celebrating the successes, they really focused on their places of\nanxiety. As somebody who has been wrestling, is this my time, is this . . . ? It\njust really gave me the peace of mind that I'm causing some of this anxiety for\nthem and that I'm feeling constrained and that I don't know exactly what is\nnext, but that I can trust. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4800.0,4830.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/162","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"That self-reliance I talked about earlier is still\nhere. I've saved, so I have some money [so] that I don't need to figure it all\nout right away. Health care is what I'm most concerned about but thank you,\nSupreme Court last week, that . . . I feel better about our future of health\ncare in this country. I'm in this place of wanting to dream of what's next. One\nof the things that I'm going to be doing is working with the staff of [The] On\nBeing [Project], in addition to Krista Tippett's podcast, which ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4830.0,4860.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/163","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"is amazing. I\nrecommend everyone to listen to it. Lucas Johnson heads up their Civil\nConversation and Social Healing Department, and they're starting a fellowship\nfor social healers for the first time, people who are bringing communities\ntogether in lots of the ways that I've just talked about. This year, their\nfellowship is focused on people doing that work in the context of race. They've\nasked me if I would join the faculty of the fellowship to be the spiritual\ndirector to the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4860.0,4890.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/164","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"social healers and support some of their spiritual programing.\nThat's going to be a small level. That's the kind of thing that excites me and\nhelps me think about impact. As the emeritus, I still have a small opportunity\nto support Bet Haverim and its growth and its development and its new rabbi. I'm\nreally happy to do that. We didn't part in any kind of unpleasant place. I'm\nworking with two consultancies. One is a DEI [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion]\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4890.0,4920.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/165","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"consultancy, helping them work through big projects. Another is helping people\ncareer change and I'm writing some modules for them. Interesting opportunities\nare popping up in the midst of me trying to figure out . . . What I've said is\nthat if there isn't the right thing, I'll build it. As somebody . . . we were\nstarting to talk about, I founded SOJOURN and I was one of the founders of the\nFaith Alliance in Metro Atlanta. I've started a nonprofit out of [Washington]\nD.C. that's just getting off the ground ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4920.0,4950.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/166","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"called . . . The Bridge . . . I should\nknow the title. Faith Bridges . . .\n\nBERMAN: Bridges Faith Initiative.\n\nLESSER: . . . Faith Initiative. Yes. I feel competent about being able to start\nsomething from the ground.\n\nBERMAN: I have no doubt that you will start . . . You're going to be having\ntrouble managing, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4950.0,4980.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/167","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"juggling all the balls that you have in the air. Before we\nconclude, we have just a couple more minutes, I had to ask you about something\nelse and that's Torah Queries.\n\nLESSER: Yes.\n\nBERMAN: Tell me . . . That sounds like a lot of fun, in a sense.\n\nLESSER: What was a lot of fun was the sabbatical that this project came out of.\nThere used to be an organization . . . I guess let me just step ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4980.0,5010.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/168","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"back and say, we\nwere talking about kind of this painful moment for Bet Haverim. To me, the thing\nthat feels really important to understand is that so many LGBT-founded\nsynagogues that did not evolve closed their doors. I believe that if we had not\nbeen as opening . . . I actually gave a sermon called Sliding Doors, if you've\never seen the movie. Because I think sometimes there is this tendency of a\nnostalgia for something that never ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5010.0,5040.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/169","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"happened. A number of our founders, I think,\nsometimes glorify what it could have been. I wanted them to really understand\nthat what really could have been was our doors closed, that it's only in the\nlargest cities that these congregations have still existed and they've started\ncoming to us to understand how one creates inclusive communities. What jogged my\nmemory is that this organization, Jewish Mosaic, was ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5040.0,5070.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/170","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"doing Jewish education in a\nlot of the ways that Keshet does and SOJOURN does, as well, and they don't exist\nanymore. Keshet subsumed them. They were in the Midwest. The executive director,\nwho I worked with closely also in the foreword, referred to Bet Haverim as the\nfirst post-gay synagogue in the country, and he did it very . . . as an insult.\nI responded with why post-gay is a good ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5070.0,5100.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/171","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"thing. But he and I worked together on\nTorah Queries. Through Jewish Mosaic, he would reach out to different rabbis for\na parshah commentary every week. It was online. The level of quality was all\nover the map. We decided that we wanted a more scholarly approach, like The\nWoman's Torah Commentary. We actually then spoke with ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5100.0,5130.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/172","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, who\ngave us some advice, and we began to reach out to . . . and if you look at the\nbook, it's not just LGBT folks. There are allies who have contributed as well. A\ncouple of things about the book that I think are important is that Gregg\nDrinkwater and I were primarily running the project. Already I thought that was\nproblematic, as two cisgender gay men. Then he wanted to ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5130.0,5160.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/173","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"bring his husband\nalong, of blessed memory. Sadly, his husband died earlier this year from a brain\ntumor. David Shneer. When it was clear that there were going to be three gay men\nwho were editing this book, I said, \"Okay, the only way I'm going to do this is\nthat if a woman or a trans person is going to write the preface and the epilogue\nand that there are more women and trans folks in the book.\" That is [how] Judith\nPlaskow, who is a ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5160.0,5190.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/174","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"giant in the Jewish academic community, particularly for\nJewish feminism, and then Benay Lappe, who is a giant in queer Talmud studies,\nhave written the forward and the epilogue. They're two of some of the best parts\nof the book. It was great working with all of these people. I got to do the\nfirst major edit as the rabbinic editor. It was just . . . To me, I felt like we\nwant to create ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5190.0,5220.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/175","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"something that will have longevity and be useful. The ways that I\nhear how it still continues to be used is really important. I don't know about\nmy other editors, but we made a promise that all of our royalty checks would go\nto tzedakah. At least on my end, that has continued to be the case that it goes\nto support LGBT causes. The secret behind Torah Queries is that while I spent\npart of my sabbatical in Denver [Colorado], which is where ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5220.0,5250.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/176","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"David and Gregg lived,\nI then finished my sabbatical in Hawaii. I volunteered for the Wild Dolphin\nFoundation three days a week and the other days I was working on Torah Queries\non the beach in Hawaii. That's the secret to having a great sabbatical.\n\nBERMAN: You've talked a lot about your legacy. I, for one, feel like you've\nalready made quite a mark on the ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5250.0,5280.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/transcript/39366/annotation/177","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"community, the Atlanta community, the Jewish\ncommunity in the United States. I just want to say, it's been a pleasure\ninterviewing you.\n\nLESSER: Thank you.\n\nBERMAN: I thoroughly enjoyed this, as I know they did. Thanks.\n\nLESSER: Thanks.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5280.0,5310.0"}]},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Annotations [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/178","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Esther and Herbert Taylor Oral History Collection, housed in the Ida Pearle and joseph Cuba Archives for Southern Jewish History at the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, consists of more than 1,000 interviews that document Jewish life in Georgia and Alabama.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=0.0,30.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/179","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta celebrates and commemorates Jewish history, culture, and art through events and museum spaces. The Breman also contains the Cuba Family Archives for Southern Jewish History, which houses thousands of manuscripts, oral histories, and photograph collections, related to southern Jewish history and the Holocaust.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=0.0,30.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/180","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eSisters of Charity Hospital is a general medical and surgical hospital founded in 1848 by the Daughters of Charity Saint Vincent de Paul, and the oldest hospital in Buffalo, New York. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=30.0,60.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/181","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eClarkston is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The city is noted for its ethnic diversity, and is often referred to as “the most diverse square mile in America” and “the Ellis Island of the South.” \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=120.0,150.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/182","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Atlanta Jewish Community Center was officially founded in 1910, as the Jewish Educational Alliance. In the late 1940s it evolved into the Atlanta Jewish Community Center and moved to Peachtree Street. It stayed there until 1998, when the building was sold and the center moved to the suburb of Dunwoody. In 2000, it was renamed the “Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.”\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=150.0,180.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/183","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eBriarcliff Road is a road running northeast through the Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. Southward from Ponce de Leon Avenue, the road is named Moreland Avenue.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=150.0,180.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/184","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eFounded in Atlanta in 1953, the Katherine and Jacob Greenfield Hebrew Academy (GHA), originally known as The Hebrew Academy, was the first Jewish day school in the country to be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2014, GHA merged with Yeshiva Atlanta high school to become what is now Atlanta Jewish Academy.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=180.0,210.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/185","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eFounded in 1904, Congregation Shearith Israel began as a congregation that met in the homes of congregants until 1906 when they began using a Methodist church on Hunter Street. After World War II, Rabbi Tobias Geffen moved the congregation to University Drive, where it became the first synagogue in DeKalb County. In the 1960s, they removed the barrier between the men’s and women’s sections in the sanctuary, and officially became affiliated with the Conservative movement in 2002. As of 2022, the current Senior Rabbi of the congregation is Ari Kaiman.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=210.0,240.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/186","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eRabbi Marc H. Wilson was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1949 and was a rabbi at Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta from 1975 to 1985. He received a bachelor's degree from De Paul University, and rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Theological College in Chicago. He was the founding principal of Morton Grove Community Hebrew School in Chicago in 1970. After leaving Shearith Israel, he served as rabbi for Temple Israel in Charlotte and Beth Israel in Greenville, South Carolina. He is the author of columns and commentaries published in the Atlanta Jewish Times, Columbia State, Reader’s Digest, the Washington Post, Philadelphia\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=210.0,240.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/187","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eRabbi Judah Kogen served as rabbi for Congregation Shearith Israel during the late 1980s. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1949. He was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and received undergraduate and graduate degrees from there as well as a graduate degree from Columbia University. He also served as a rabbi in numerous other Conservative congregations in cities including Linden, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Swampscott, Massachusetts, Larchmont, New York, Newington, Connecticut, and Wichita, Kansas.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=210.0,240.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/188","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eHebrew for “daughter of commandments.” A rite of passage for Jewish girls aged 12 years and one day according to her Hebrew birthday. Many girls have their \u003cem\u003ebat mitzvah\u003c/em\u003e around age 13, the same as boys who have their \u003cem\u003ebar mitzvah\u003c/em\u003e at that age. The\u003cem\u003e bat mitzvah\u003c/em\u003e girl is now duty bound to keep the commandments. Synagogue ceremonies are held for \u003cem\u003ebat mitzvah\u003c/em\u003e girls in Reform and Conservative communities, but it has not won the approval of Orthodox rabbis.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=210.0,240.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/189","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eRabbi Mark Hillel Kunis is the head of Congregation Shaarei Shamayim in Atlanta. He was previously the rabbi for Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta from 1989 to 2002. Rabbi Kunis has been a former President of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association, the founder of MORASHA, The Rabbinic Fellowship of the Union for Traditional Judaism and President of the Federation of Traditional Orthodox Rabbis.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=210.0,240.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/190","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eDavening is the act of reciting Jewish liturgical prayers during which the prayer sways or rocks lightly. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=240.0,270.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/191","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eAlso known as Masorti Judaism, Conservative Judaism is a form of Judaism that seeks to preserve Jewish tradition and ritual, but has a more flexible approach to the interpretation of the law than Orthodox Judaism. It attempts to combine a positive attitude toward modern culture, while preserving a commitment to Jewish observance. In general, Conservative congregations also observe gender equality (mixed seating, women rabbis, and bat mitzvah). The governing body for Conservative Judaism in the United States is the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), formerly known as the United Synagogue of America.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=270.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/192","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eTefillin, also called “phylacteries,” are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers. They are worn around the arm, hand and fingers and on the forehead. The Torah commands that they should be worn as a “sign” and “remembrance” that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=270.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/193","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eReform Judaism is a division within Judaism, especially in North America and the United Kingdom. Historically it began in the 19th century. In general, the Reform movement maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and compatible with participation in Western culture. While the Torah remains the law, in Reform Judaism women are included (mixed seating, bat mitzvah, and women rabbis), instrumental music is allowed in the services, and most of the service is in the local language as opposed to Hebrew.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=330.0,360.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/194","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eJewish men cover their heads during prayer with a small skullcap called a \u003cem\u003eyarmulke \u003c/em\u003e(Yiddish) or \u003cem\u003ekippah \u003c/em\u003e(Hebrew). Orthodox Jewish men wear it at all times to remind themselves of God’s presence.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=330.0,360.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/195","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eOrthodox Judaism is a traditional branch of Judaism that strictly follows the written Torah and the oral law concerning prayer, dress, food, sex, family relations, social behavior, the Sabbath day, holidays, and more.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=330.0,360.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/196","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eKashrut is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jews are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér, meaning \"fit\" (in this context, \"fit for consumption\"). In colloquial English, kosher often means \"legitimate,\" \"acceptable,\" \"permissible,\" \"genuine,\" or \"authentic.\"\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=360.0,390.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/197","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eShabbat \u003c/em\u003e(Hebrew) or \u003cem\u003eShabbos \u003c/em\u003e(Yiddish) is the Jewish Sabbath and is observed on Saturdays. \u003cem\u003eShabbat \u003c/em\u003eobservance entails refraining from work activities and engaging in restful activities to honor the day. \u003cem\u003eShabbat \u003c/em\u003ebegins at sundown on Friday night and is ushered in by lighting candles and reciting a blessing. It is closed the following evening with the recitation of the \u003cem\u003ehavdalah \u003c/em\u003eblessing.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=390.0,420.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/198","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Temple, or “Hebrew Benevolent Congregation,” is Atlanta’s oldest Jewish congregation. The cornerstone was laid on the Temple on Garnett Street in 1875. The dedication was held in 1877 and the Temple was located there until 1902. The Temple’s next location on Pryor Street was dedicated in 1902. The Temple’s current location in Midtown on Peachtree Street was dedicated in 1931. The main sanctuary is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Reform congregation now totals approximately 1500 families. As of 2022, its Senior Rabbi is Peter S. Berg.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=390.0,420.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/199","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eA \u003cem\u003ebar mitzvah\u003c/em\u003e [Hebrew: son of commandments; plural: \u003cem\u003eb’nai mitzvah\u003c/em\u003e] is a rite of passage for Jewish boys aged 13 years and one day. At that time, a Jewish boy is considered a responsible adult for most religious purposes. He is now duty-bound to keep the commandments, he puts on \u003cem\u003etefillin\u003c/em\u003e, and may be counted to the \u003cem\u003eminyan \u003c/em\u003equorum for public worship. He celebrates the \u003cem\u003ebar mitzvah\u003c/em\u003e by being called up to the reading of the Torah in the synagogue, usually on the next available \u003cem\u003eSabbath \u003c/em\u003eafter his Hebrew birthday.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=420.0,450.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/200","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eYeshiva Atlanta (YA) was a private, Orthodox Jewish high school for boys in Atlanta, founded in 1970. In 2014, YA merged with Greenfield Hebrew Academy to become what is now Atlanta Jewish Academy.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=450.0,480.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/201","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwest is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=570.0,600.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/202","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe High Holy Days are the two holiest times of the Jewish calendar. The two High Holy Days are \u003cem\u003eRosh Ha-Shanah\u003c/em\u003e (Jewish New Year) and \u003cem\u003eYom Kippur\u003c/em\u003e (Day of Atonement). \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=570.0,600.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/203","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eFounded in 1923 and adopted by B'nai B'rith in 1924, Hillel is the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. It is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=600.0,630.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/204","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eFounded in 1951, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=720.0,750.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/205","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eA modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1983). The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. The movement developed from the late 1920s to the 1940s and it established a rabbinical college in 1968. Halakhah, the collective body of Jewish laws, customs and traditions, is not considered binding but is treated as a valuable cultural remnant that should be upheld unless there is reasons to the contrary. It aims toward communal decision-making through a process of education and distillation of views from traditional Jewish sources.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=810.0,840.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/206","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eBorn in Montreal, Rabbi Michael Balinski is a graduate of Yeshiva University, where he received his ordination in 1970, and the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He was a Hillel director for 22 years, over 19 of those as the director of the Louis and Saerree Fiedler Hillel Center at Northwestern University. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=810.0,840.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/207","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eA \u003cem\u003emechitza \u003c/em\u003eis a physical divider placed between the men’s and women’s sections in Orthodox synagogues and at religious celebrations. In some synagogues, a balcony (usually with a 3-foot wall) where women sit, serves the same function as a \u003cem\u003emechitza\u003c/em\u003e. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=840.0,870.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/208","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Baha’i Faith is a relatively new religion teaching the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the Middle East.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=960.0,990.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/209","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eBegun in 1912 and dedicated in 1953, the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois (or Chicago Baha’i Temple) is the second Baha’i House of Worship ever constructed and the oldest one still standing. It is one of eight continental temples, constructed to serve all of North America. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=960.0,990.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/210","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eChutzpah \u003c/em\u003eis the quality of audacity, for good or for bad. It derives from the Hebrew word חֻצְפָּה, meaning \"insolence\", \"cheek,\" or \"audacity\". Thus, the original Yiddish word has a strongly negative connotation but the form which entered English as a Yiddishism in American English has taken on a broader meaning, having been popularized through vernacular use in film, literature, and television. The word is sometimes interpreted—particularly in business parlance—as meaning the amount of courage, mettle, or ardor that an individual has.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1050.0,1080.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/211","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eJulius Bernard Lester (1939-2018) was an American writer of books for children and adults and an academic who taught for 32 years at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lester was also a civil rights activist, a photographer, and a musician. His experiences during “Freedom Summer” in 1964 were documented in a 2014 documentary, The Folk Singer. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1140.0,1170.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/212","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Gulf War (1990-1991), including Operation Desert Storm/Operation Desert Shield, was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1140.0,1170.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/213","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eKaddish \u003c/em\u003e[Hebrew: holy] is a hymn of praises to God found in the Jewish prayer service that is recited aloud while standing. The central theme of the \u003cem\u003eKaddish \u003c/em\u003eis the magnification and sanctification of God's name. Along with the \u003cem\u003eShema \u003c/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eAmidah\u003c/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eKaddish \u003c/em\u003eis one of the most important and central elements in the Jewish liturgy. Mourner's \u003cem\u003eKaddish \u003c/em\u003eis said at all prayer services and certain other occasions. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1170.0,1200.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/214","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Forward, formerly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is an American news media organization for a Jewish-American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, The New York Times reported that Seth Lipsky \"started an English-language offshoot of the Yiddish-language newspaper\" as a weekly newspaper in 1990. In the 21st century The Forward is a digital publication with online reporting. In 2016, the publication of the Yiddish version changed its print format from a bi-weekly newspaper to a monthly magazine; the English weekly newspaper followed suit in 2017. Those magazines were published until 2019.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1260.0,1290.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/215","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eTeach for America (TFA) is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to “enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation’s most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for education equality and excellence.” The organization aims to accomplish this by recruiting and selecting college graduates from top universities around the United States to serve as teachers. The selected members, known as “corps members,” commit to teaching for at least two years in a public or public charter K-12 school in one of the 52 low-income communities that the organization serves. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1320.0,1350.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/216","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHanukkah \u003c/em\u003eor \u003cem\u003eChanukah \u003c/em\u003e[Hebrew: dedication] is an eight-day festival of lights usually falling around Christmas on the Christian calendar. \u003cem\u003eHanukkah \u003c/em\u003ecelebrates the victory of the Maccabees in 165 BCE over the Seleucid rulers of Palestine, who had desecrated the Temple. The Maccabees wanted to re-dedicate the Temple altar to Jewish worship by rekindling the \u003cem\u003emenorah \u003c/em\u003e(ritual candelabra) but could only find one small jar of ritually pure olive oil. This oil continued to burn miraculously for eight days, enabling them to prepare new oil. The \u003cem\u003eHanukkah menorah\u003c/em\u003e, or \u003cem\u003ehanukiah\u003c/em\u003e, with its nine branches, is used to commemorate this miracle by lighting eight candles, one for each day, with the ninth candle.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1500.0,1530.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/217","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003ePassover [Hebrew: Pesach] is the anniversary of Israel’s liberation from Egyptian bondage. Although enslaved by the Pharaoh, the Israelites continued to survive and even increase in numbers. Dismayed, the Pharaoh declared that all sons born to Hebrew women must be killed, but Hebrew midwives defied the Pharaoh’s decree. One mother, who had given birth to a son, placed him in a basket in the Nile River. The baby was found by none other than the Pharaoh’s daughter, who scooped him up, named him Moses, and raised him as her own. When Moses had grown up, God spoke to Moses saying that he, along with his brother Aaron, would be the one to take the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses challenged the Pharaoh, demanding freedom for the Israelites. When the Pharaoh refused, God sent a series of plagues upon the Pharaoh and Egyptian people. There were 10 plagues in total: blood, frogs, lice, wild beasts, diseases, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the most severe of all, the death of every Egyptian first-born son. In order to protect the Israelite children from the Angel of Death, the Israelites marked their doors with lamb’s blood, so that their houses would be passed over (hence the holiday name, “Passover”). Finally, Pharaoh surrendered and ordered the Israelites to leave Egypt. The Israelites were in such a hurry to leave Egypt that their bread had no time to rise. Pharaoh had also soon changed his mind and sent his armies after the Israelites. When the Israelites came to the Red Sea, they were trapped until God miraculously parted the sea. As soon as they passed through, the sea closed up, saving them from the Egyptians and beginning the Israelites’ epic journey to the Promised Land.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1530.0,1560.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/218","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eAn ulpan is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. The Hebrew word means “teaching” or “instruction.”\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1590.0,1620.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/219","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Best Little Boy in the World, originally published in 1973, is a memoir written by Andrew Tobias about his experiences as a gay boy and young man. It has been hailed as a classic memoir of growing up gay in a straight world and a quintessential account of a gay man’s coming of age. It was originally published under the pseudonym “John Reid” to avoid the repercussions of being openly gay but was republished in 1998 under his real name. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1620.0,1650.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/220","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eCongregation Bet Haverim is a Reconstructionist congregation founded in 1985 by gay and lesbian Jews that felt unwelcome in Atlanta’s other synagogues. As of 2022 it is the only Reconstructionist congregation in the state of Georgia, and its interim rabbi is Dayle Friedman.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1920.0,1950.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/221","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eIt Gets Better is an internet-based nonprofit with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe. It was founded in the United States by gay activist, author, media pundit, and journalist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller on September 21, 2010. Its goal is to prevent suicide among LGBT youth by having gay adults convey the message that these teens’ lives will improve. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=1950.0,1980.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/222","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTeshuva \u003c/em\u003e[Hebrew: literally “return,” referring to the “return to God”] is often translated as “repentance” and is one element of atoning for sins in Judaism. It is one of the most significant themes and spiritual components of the High Holy Days. Judaism recognizes that everyone sins on occasion, but that people can stop or minimize these occasions in the future by repenting for past transgressions. Thus, the primary purpose of repentance in Judaism is ethical self-transformation. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2130.0,2160.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/223","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA), founded in 1974, is the professional association of rabbis affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It has approximately 300 members, most of whom are graduates of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2430.0,2460.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/224","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eCongregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST) is a synagogue located in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1973, CBST serves Jews of all sexual orientations and gender identities, their families, and their friends. It is not affiliated with any denomination or branch of Judaism. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2520.0,2550.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/225","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Interfaith Community Initiative’s (ICI) World Pilgrims program is based on the principle that before people of different religions can constructively discuss their differences they need to develop personal relationships with each other, towards the goal of increased empathy and understanding, the reduction of conflict, and the creation of opportunities for cooperative action. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=2880.0,2910.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/226","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eA \u003cem\u003echavurah \u003c/em\u003eor hav\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003erah (Hebrew: “fellowship,” plural chavurot) is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating \u003cem\u003eShabbat \u003c/em\u003eand holiday prayer services, sharing communal experiences such as lifecycle events, or Jewish learning. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3090.0,3120.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/227","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTikkun olam\u003c/em\u003e (Hebrew: “repair of the world”) is a concept in Judaism, which refers to various forms of action intended to repair and improve the world. In the modern era, tikkun olam has come to refer to the pursuit of social justice. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3180.0,3210.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/228","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Atlanta Rabbinical Association, founded sometime prior to 1970, is comprised of rabbis who represent the full spectrum of organized Jewish religious expression in the metro Atlanta area.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3300.0,3330.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/229","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eSynagogues: Transformation and Renewal (STAR) is a national organization that helps synagogues deepen their connection with the American Jewish community, renewing Jewish life through congregational innovation and leadership development. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3390.0,3420.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/230","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTrembling Before G-d\u003c/em\u003e is a 2001 American documentary film about gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews trying to reconcile their sexuality with their faith. It was directed by Sandi Sincha DuBowski, an American who wanted to compare Orthodox Jewish attitudes to homosexuality with his won upbringing as a gay Conservative jew. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3450.0,3480.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/231","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTzitzit \u003c/em\u003eare the four special fringes attached to the four corners of the tallit (prayer shawl) and \u003cem\u003etallit katan\u003c/em\u003e (everyday undergarment), one at each of the four corners. Any other tassels are just decorative. The four \u003cem\u003etzitzit \u003c/em\u003eare ritually constructed very carefully according to Hebrew law. The making of the \u003cem\u003etzitzit\u003c/em\u003e is commanded in Deuteronomy 22:12: “You shall make yourself twisted threats, on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.”\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=3600.0,3630.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/232","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eMarjorie Taylor Greene is an American politician, businesswoman, and far-right conspiracy theorist who has served as the U.S. representative for Georgia’s 14th congressional district since 2021. As a congresswoman, she equated the Democratic Party with Nazis and compared COVID-19 safety measures to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust, later apologizing for the latter comparison. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4050.0,4080.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/233","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe United States Holocaust Memoria Museum (USHMM) is the United States’ official memorial to the Holocaust. The USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history. It is dedicated to helping leaders and citizens of the world confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4050.0,4080.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/234","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta (FAMA, now Interfaith Atlanta) is a coalition of clergy and lay leaders allied to promote understanding, respect, prayer, interaction and unity among the diverse faiths in the greater Atlanta region, and to advance the influence of voices of the faith communities for the common good. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4230.0,4260.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/235","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eSOJOURN was founded in 2001 as The Rainbow Center as a Jewish response to LGBT people and their families, providing educating, resources, counseling, and pastoral care. Supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, it was a central point to promote change and inclusion for LGBTQ+ Jews and people of all faiths throughout metro Atlanta. In 2013, the Rainbow Center was renamed SOJOURN. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4320.0,4350.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/236","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eDavid I. Sarnat (1942- ) was hired to be executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta in 1978. He succeeded Max C. (Mike) Gettinger who retired. Sarnat was the third director of the Federation and served until 2000. He was also the United States Representative to the Federation System for the Jewish Agency for Israel. Sarnat developed the Jewish Community Legacy Project (JCLP) to preserve the history, artifacts, and accomplishments of generations of Jews in communities where the population is eroding and is president of the organization. Before coming to Atlanta, Sarnat was the Director for Planning at the Cleveland Jewish Community Federation.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4380.0,4410.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/237","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eEast Cobb is an unincorporated community in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is an affluent northern suburb of Atlanta.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4410.0,4440.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/238","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was founded in 1913 “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” ADL fights antisemitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals, and protects civil rights.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4440.0,4470.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/239","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eJewish Family and Career Services (JF\u0026amp;CS Atlanta) is a group of professionals and volunteers offering programs, and resources for individuals and families of all faiths, cultures and ages. Services include counseling, tools for employment, and support for people with developmental disabilities. JF\u0026amp;CS is a member organization of the Association of Jewish Family \u0026amp; Children's Agencies (AJFCA). JF\u0026amp;CS is a result of the merging of two separate organizations, both of which started as committees of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. The first, Jewish Family Services was founded around 1890. The agency became an autonomous organization in 1982. In 1979, Jewish Vocational Services was started. It became independent in 1985. The two agencies merged in 1997 to become JF\u0026amp;CS. The Jewish Family \u0026amp; Career Services of Atlanta hosts a Child Survivor Support Group that meets bi-monthly.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4470.0,4500.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/240","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eCongregation Etz Chaim is a progressive, egalitarian Conservative synagogue established in 1975 in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb in north metropolitan Atlanta. As of 2022, the congregation's Senior Rabbi is Daniel Dorsch.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4530.0,4560.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/241","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eThe On Being Project is an independent non-profit public life and media initiative. It produces a public radio show, podcasts, and explores the intersection of spiritual inquiry, science, poetry, social healing, and the arts. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4830.0,4860.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/242","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eKrista Tippett is an American journalist, author, and entrepreneur. She created and hosts the public radio program and podcast On Being. In 2014, Tippett was awarded the National Humanities Medal by U.S. President Barak Obama. She hosts On Being, a podcast and a former public radio program. It examines what it calls the “animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live?”  \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4830.0,4860.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/243","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eBridges Faith Initiative is a nonprofit that works together with faith and lay leaders especially in the United States to lift up progressive faith voices to enable the rights, protection and integration of immigrants and refugees, end mass atrocities, and ensure civilian security worldwide. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4950.0,4980.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/244","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTorah Queries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible\u003c/em\u003e (2012) is a book that collects commentaries on the 54 weekly Torah portions and six major Jewish holidays from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight-allied rabbis, scholars, and writers to interpret the Torah through a \"bent lens\" that allows the Torah to speak to modern concerns of sexuality, identity, gender, and Jewish LGBT life.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=4980.0,5010.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/245","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eCo-founded by Gregg Drinkwater and David Shneer, Jewish Mosaic was the first national Jewish LGBT organization. It merged with Keshet in 2010. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5040.0,5070.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/246","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eFounded in 1996, Keshet is a regional nonprofit organization that works for full quality and inclusion of LGBTQ individuals and identities in Jewish life. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5070.0,5100.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/247","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eRabbi Elyse Goldstein (1955- ) is a Canadian Reform rabbi. She is the first women to be elected as president of the interdenominational Toronto Board of Rabbis and president of the Reform Rabbis of Greater Toronto. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5130.0,5160.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/248","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eDr. Gregg Drinkwater is a lecturer in History and Jewish Studies and Associate Academic Director of the Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collection at the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to entering academic life, Drinkwater worked for 10 years as a researcher and advocate for LGBTQ inclusion and social justice in the Jewish community through the organizations Jewish Mosaic and Keshet. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5130.0,5160.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/249","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eDr. David Shneer (1972-2020) was a historian, scholar, and activist. He received his doctorate from Berkeley in 2001 and joined the faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2008. He co-founded Jewish Mosaic and was education director of Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, the LGBT outreach synagogue of the San Francisco Bay Area from 1997 to 2001. His award-winning work transformed Yiddish studies, Russian and Soviet history, queer studies, and the study of the Holocaust. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5160.0,5190.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/250","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eDr. Judith Plaskow (1947- ) is an American theologian, author, and activist known for being the first Jewish feminist theologian. She was one of the creators of the Journal for Feminist Studies in Religion and helped to create B’not Esh, a Jewish feminist group, and a feminist section of the American Academy of Religion. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5160.0,5190.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/251","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003eBenay Lappe is an American rabbi and a teacher of Talmud in the United States. In 2016, Lappe was awarded the Covenant Award for innovation in Jewish education by the Covenant Foundation. She is professor of Talmud at the Hebrew Seminary in Skokie, Illinois, and serves as the executive director and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA, a yeshiva in Chicago. \u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5190.0,5220.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/annotation_set/808/annotation/252","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTzedakah \u003c/em\u003e[Hebrew: philanthropy and charity] is an ethical obligation that the \u003cem\u003eTorah \u003c/em\u003emandates, also known as a \u003cem\u003emitzvah\u003c/em\u003e. Many Jews give \u003cem\u003etzedakah \u003c/em\u003ebefore \u003cem\u003eShabbat \u003c/em\u003eand festivals (such as \u003cem\u003ePurim \u003c/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eShavuot).\u003c/em\u003e Its intention is to show the Jewish people's determination to improve the world.\u003c/p\u003e","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=5220.0,5250.0"}]},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/index/51821","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Josh Lesser [Index]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/index/51821/annotation/253","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Family History; Moving to Atlanta","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=20.0,204.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/index/51821/annotation/254","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I'd like to begin with a little background if you could say where and when you were born. 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","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Partial Transcript"]}}],"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=204.0,584.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/index/51821/annotation/258","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"bar mitzvah","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"bat mitzvah","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Congregation Shearith Israel","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Conservative Judaism","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hebrew","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Kogen, Judah","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Kunis, Mark Hillel","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Orthodox Judaism","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"The Hebrew Academy","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Wilson, Marc","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}},{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Yeshiva High School","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Keywords"]}}],"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=204.0,584.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/index/51821/annotation/259","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Attending Northwestern University; Time As Student President of Hillel","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102#t=584.0,1428.0"},{"id":"https://thebreman.aviaryplatform.com/collections/994/collection_resources/77984/file/165102/index/51821/annotation/260","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Where did you attend college? 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