Modern Orthodoxy must act on inclusion

By Amram Altzman May 23, 2016

Unlike many other people I know who grew up in but have since left the Modern Orthodox community, I don’t look back on my childhood religious experiences with sadness. Instead, many of the decisions that I have since made in my religious life have been because of — not despite — having been raised in the…

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My queerness is more than just a Bible verse

By Amram Altzman May 6, 2016

On this weekend, five years ago, a community member of the synagogue in which I’d grown up stood up at the podium of my teen minyan, and talked about the verse in this week’s Torah portion — one that’s served as the basis for discrimination against queer Jews for decades. I had just come out…

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When rabbis fail

By Amram Altzman April 28, 2016

When Rabbi Steven Pruzansky released a column on his personal blog at the end of March, he claimed that the solution to college campus rape culture is abstinence. If more women abstained from sex, he wrote, as his Judaism warrants, then campus rape culture will magically vanish. I am grateful to have seen so many…

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Why progressive Jews should be outraged about Hasidic schools

By Amram Altzman April 12, 2016

When news broke back in September of the systematic and egregious lack of regulation of secular studies curricula in Hasidic and Haredi schools, there was little outcry from the rest of the Jewish community over the fact that a large segment of our population — already growing up cut off from the rest of the world…

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What happens the day after National Coming Out Day?

By Amram Altzman October 12, 2015

A few years ago, while I was working as a staff member at Brandeis High School Programs, someone asked me what could be done for LGBTQ people who were still in the closet. At first, I had no response. The only real way to give someone the direct help that they need is for them…

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Haredi Jews vs. the Internet; formerly ‘frum’ and looking for love; and more. [Required Reading]

By John Propper April 30, 2012

Off the path, on the prowl [Slate] This might be the most fascinating article about former Orthodox Jews learning to navigate the complicated waters of love, lust, and being around… “the rest of us.” (Plus, the title is a winner; just click and see what we mean.) Meet Israel Irenstein, coach to the socially awkward, no-longer-frum….

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