She noted the intersection of the Jewish festival of Shavuot, and the Jewish celebrate God’s gift of Torah to our people in the desert Ramadan, the Islamic commemoration of the first divine revelation of the Koran to the prophet Muhammad and LGBT Pride Month, a chance to celebrate the achievements and the on-going revelation of divine glory through the many identities and orientations of the LGBTQAA community. “We reject any divisions based on faith,” Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah told the gathered. Rabbi Kleinbaum read some of the names of the murdered from the outdoor podium. Rabbis Sharon Kleinbaum and David Dunn Bauer participated in a Manhattan vigil outside of the historic Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street. Jewish communities are heavily involved in the vigils to end hate.Īt the close of Shavuot, rabbis participated in many vigils across the globe.
The days since then have been marked by revelation of horrible details of the tragedy, the names of the victims, and vigils of memorial for those lives lost. Forty-nine LGBTQ people and their friends, mostly Latino, were killed. The murderous atrocity in Orlando consumed the thoughts and actions of so many people, like no other tragedy in very recent memory. The Orlando attack began at 2 AM, as many Jews participated in Tikkun Leil Shavuot study programs across North America. It happened less than a week after the terror attack in Tel Aviv.