Shalom Task Force and Jewish Queer Youth: A Match Made in Sedom
In documents released by the US Department of Justice through Freedom of Information, Shalom Task Force Inc. (STF) indicated that they conducted a class together with Jewish Queer Youth (JQY).
Who is JQY?
According to their Guidestar page:
JQY (Jewish Queer Youth) is a nonprofit organization supporting and empowering LGBTQ youth in the Jewish community. JQY fights to ensure the emotional and physical health and safety of these individuals, with a special focus on teens and young adults from Orthodox, Chasidic, and Sephardic communities. Our goal is for all these individuals to know: You are a valued member of the Jewish community and you are not alone.
In their 2022 non-profit 990 filing with the IRS, they state further:
Briefly describe the organization’s mission or most significant activities:
JQY SUPPORTS AND EMPOWERS LGBTQ YOUTH IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY. JQY FIGHTS TO ENSURE THE EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH AND SAFETY OF THESE INDIVIDUALS, WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS FROM ORTHODOX, CHASIDIC, AND SEPHARDIC COMMUNITIES. JQY PROMOTES THE MENTAL HEALTH, EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING, AND PHYSICAL SAFETY OF THESE INDIVIDUALS. JQY ENVISIONS A WORLD IN WHICH NO YOUNG PERSON, REGARDLESS OF JEWISH DENOMINATION OR COMMUNITY, FEELS ALONE, OSTRACIZED, OR SHAMED BECAUSE OF THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR GENDER IDENTITY.
and
Briefly describe the organization’s mission:
WE PROVIDE CRISIS INTERVENTION, SUPPORT SERVICES, AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, GUIDED BY THE CONVICTION THAT ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT SHOULD NOT BE CONTINGENT UPON RELIGIOUS OR POLITICAL BELIEFS. JQY HONORS THE JEWISH CONCEPT AND PHILOSOPHY OF EILU V'EILU (BOTH THESE AND THESE), ALLOWING US TO CREATE SAFE SPACES WHERE MULTIPLE TRUTHS ARE HELD AND VALUED; AT JQY, YOUTH DO NOT HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN CONFLICTING INDENTITIES. THEIR WHOLE SELF BELONGS. NO YOUNG PERSON, REGARDLESS OF JEWISH DENOMINATION OR COMMUNITY, SHOULD FEEL ALONE, OSTRACIZED, OR SHAMED BECAUSE OF THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR GENDER IDENTITY. WE PROVIDE CRISIS INTERVENTION, SUPPORT SERVICES, AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, GUIDED BY THE CONVICTION THAT ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT SHOULD NOT BE CONTINGENT UPON RELIGIOUS OR POLITICAL BELIEFS. JQY HONORS THE JEWISH CONCEPT AND PHILOSOPHY OF EILU V'EILU (BOTH THESE AND THESE), ALLOWING US TO CREATE SAFE SPACES WHERE MULTIPLE TRUTHS ARE HELD AND VALUED.
According to their Wikipedia page:
JQY (or Jewish Queer Youth) is a New York-based nonprofit organization that supports and empowers LGBTQ youth with a focus on those from Orthodox, Chassidic, and Sephardic/Mizrahi homes. The group was founded in 2001 as an online listserve, and began meeting in the Manhattan JCC in 2003.
The organization firmly believes in meeting each individual person where they are. JQY creates spaces for individuals who share the common identities of being LGBTQ and Jewish. Their members have many different views on LGBTQ issues and religion, and all are welcome to share their perspectives and experiences with the group and staff. JQY does not promote a way of life or belief system. The group support members' self-determination, and provides them with support while they explore their own identities, own beliefs, and make life decisions.
JQY's hallmark program is the Drop-in Center for LGBTQ Jewish Teen which is open to anyone who is 13 to 23 years of age. Though, they soon hope to expand the program to include individuals younger than the age of 13 in response to young people beginning to disclose their sexual and/or gender identity at younger ages. Provided both virtually and in-person, these sessions are a space for queer young adults to meet others they can relate to, participate in workshops, and become a part of an affirming community. When a member comes to a drop-in session for the first time, they have a private meeting with a social worker, where they discuss matters relating to self-harm and food/housing access. Meetings with social workers have revealed that more than 70% of JQY participants have experienced suicidal thoughts.
JQY marched with Eshel and other Jewish LGBTQ organizations in the Celebrate Israel Parade of 2012, the first year openly LGBT groups were permitted to participate. Participation in pride parades has been a contentious issue in the Orthodox LGBTQ community.
In 2017 top Jewish musicians, such as Matisyahu, Neshama Carlebach and Eli Schwebel performed in support of JQY.
JQY's crisis warm-line can be reached via call or text at 551-JQY-HOPE (551-579-4673). Contact this number to speak with one of JQY's licensed mental health professionals.
Recent research suggests that JQY successfully helps their members build an essential peer network and negotiate tensions between religion and sexual orientation.
Here are some photos from their Instagram account:
In addition, they are clearly targeting the Chassidish and Yeshivish community as well.
Documents also indicate STF is working with federal grant partner SOVRI hotline (Support for Victims of Rape and Incest) under the auspices of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital.
SOVRI’s 40-hour rape crisis volunteer advocate training includes a section on working with the LGBTQ community.
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In the last several years, Orthodox Jewish sexual assault victims identifying as LGBTQ have begun to call the SOVRI Helpline. LGBTQ victims of sexual assault not only need to overcome their assault, they also have to confront the strong communal prejudice about their sexual orientation.
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STF and SOVRI have a high level of commitment to close collaborative working relationships. The project will increase the capacity of both STF and the MSBI to provide direct services to Orthodox Jewish youth, young adult, and adult victims of sexual assault.
Shalom Task Force’s tolerance of validating lifestyles which the Torah calls an abomination is not new. In documents pertaining to a 2016 grant from the DOJ, STF similarly stated:
Not only do youth victims often not know where to turn, if they do come forward, as Orthodox Jewish victims they still face gaps in access to culturally and religiously sensitive crisis intervention and therapeutic services, including resources appropriate to LGBT victims. The widespread gap in understanding about and knowledge of appropriate intervention for intimate partner violence, dating violence and sexual assault among Orthodox Jewish mental health, religious, and other professionals, is also a significant barrier to services. They need to understand the dynamics of abuse and provide unequivocal support for victims, not for the perpetrators, as is unfortunately often the case within Orthodox circles
...
STF education presenters will participate in annual in-service training, including training on vicarious trauma, teen sexual assault, and the needs of LGBT youth victims.
On January 31, 2021, Shalom Task Force sponsored a class which they gave in conjunction with JOWMA on women’s health. JOWMA stands for Jewish Orthodox Women’s Medical Association.
At the January ‘21 health class, members of both JOWMA and STF stated repeatedly that the goals of the two organizations are “very much aligned”.
The class asked the women attending the class to fill out a survey, which contained, among others, these questions:
The class started with a brief introduction by Miriam Andrusier, an openly Orthodox queer woman, who was a JOWMA board member.
Why is this Our Problem?
By the story of Sedom (Bereishis, 19:4,5), it says that the people of Sedom came to the house of Lot in order to sodomize (an act of homosexuality) the guests whom he had brought. The pasuk says that the entire town came.
טֶרֶם יִשְׁכָּבוּ וְאַנְשֵׁי הָעִיר אַנְשֵׁי סְדֹם נָסַבּוּ עַל־הַבַּיִת מִנַּעַר וְעַד־זָקֵן כָּל־הָעָם מִקָּצֶֽה
וַיִּקְרְאוּ אֶל־לוֹט וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ אַיֵּה הָֽאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־בָּאוּ אֵלֶיךָ הַלָּיְלָה הֽוֹצִיאֵם אֵלֵינוּ וְנֵֽדְעָה אֹתָֽם
Rashi asks: Did the entire town actually come?! No, obviously not, but since no one objected to the homosexuality, it is if they all partook in the action:
כָּל־הָעָם מִקָּצֶֽה: מִקְּצֵה הָעִיר עַד הַקָּצֶה, שֶׁאֵין אֶחָד מֵהֶם מוֹחֶה בְיָדָם, שֶׁאֲפִלּוּ צַדִּיק אֶחָד אֵין בָּהֶם
Call to Action:
Contact the Rabbonim endorsing Shalom Task Force and respectfully ask them to remove their name. If they have already done so, respectfully ask them to sign a public statement indicating such, להסיר מכשול. If they state that they are not involved or that they are just an endorser, respectfully remind them that their name is being used to promote STF’s activities even if they may not be aware. If they state that the problem was resolved, respectfully ask if the ones in charge of making the anti-Torah decisions were removed from the organization. If they indicate that they aren’t the main endorser, respectfully tell the Rav that each signature makes a difference:
Rabbi Shmuel Ismach sismach@gmail.com (516) 250-8202
Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum (718) 268-0186
Rabbi Mordechai Willig fwillig@gmail.com, (917) 783-4726
Rabbi Yaakov Lerner rabbi@yign.org (516) 340-3166
Rav Ahron Lopiansky alopiansky@gmail.com 301-351-2129, 301-649-1489
Rabbi Shmuel Marcus symarcus@gmail.com (917) 612-6881
Rabbi Yoel Schoenfeld yoels@ou.org 718-873-3972
Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz aryeh.lebowitz@yu.edu 516-668-1839
Rabbi Shmuel Silber info@rabbisilber.com 410-585-0550, 443-803-4328, 443-803-4354
Rabbi Peretz Steinberg (718) 793-0012
Rabbi Asher Schechter 718-591-4888
Rabbi Ya'akov Trump rabbitrump@yilc.org (516) 200-1070
Rabbi Moshe Weinberger yumashpia@gmail.com, rabbilevin@aishkodesh.org (516) 366-4018, (516) 374-8596
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb execthw@ou.org 917-562-0103
Rabbi Herschel Welcher rabbiwelcher@gmail.com 718-268-1104
Rabbi Shalom Axelrod rabbiaxelrod@yiwoodmere.org (917) 545-9469
Rabbi Edward Davis rebred1@bellsouth.net (954) 205-1164
Rabbi Eytan Feiner wsrabbi@gmail.com 5168083780
Rabbi Moshe Hauer evp@ou.org
Rabbi Aaron Cohen (this may be his email: acohen4@yu.edu)
DailyGiving gave upwards of $180,000 of ממון צבור to Shalom Task Force. Respectfully ask their Rabbonim to stop funding them:
Rabbi Hershel Schachter hschacht@yu.edu
Rabbi Shmuel Greenberg rebbeshmuel@aol.com 914-683-9497
Rabbi Moshe Tuvia Lieff rabbilieff@gmail.com 347-782-3827
Rabbi Paysach Krohn (718) 846-6900 krohnmohel@brisquest.com
Jonathan Donath, Founder, Daily Giving (201) 407-4466 drjdonath@gmail.com
Other influencers:
Rabbi Labish Becker lbecker@agudathisrael.org (senior employee at Agudas Yisroel, and board member of United Task Force.)
R' Moshe Meir Weiss (718) 916-3100 rmmwsi@aol.com (supporter of DG)