Mazel Tov to California’s Same-Sex couples entering into Marriage!
Tuesday, June 17, 10:00am – 4:00pm at San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl, San Francisco, CA

Tuesday, June 17th is the first day that the state of California will be issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Join us, have fun, connect with friends, support our LGBT community and be a part of history in the making!

Congregation Sha’ar Zahav and a cohort of Jewish groups including Progressive Jewish Alliance, the LGBT Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation, Jewish Mosaic and Jewish Community Relations Council will be celebrating under a booth-like-Chuppah with acoustic Klezmer musicians, Simcha-cheer and a little nosh to celebrate this amazing day. Go to http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=23256656398 for more information.

Celebrating the Beloved: A Special Shabbat Honoring LGBT Pride
Friday, June 20, 2008: A collaboration of The Aquarian Minyan and Chochmat HaLev

Geliebte is Yiddish for Beloved! Come celebrate the Beloved at this joyful Kabbalat Shabbat, with contemplative chanting and joyful dancing, reflective teaching and powerful prayer. Let’s give thanks for love, summer light and LGBT pride! We will have a potluck dinner and kiddush followed by a joyful kabbalat shabbat service. At Chochmat HaLev, 2215 Prince St., Berkeley Vegetarian potluck at 6:30 pm in the Garden Service 7:30-9:30 pm in the Sanctuary

Childcare will be provided; please RSVP for childcare by contacting Chochmat HaLev at 510.704.9687 or email frontdesk@chochmat.org.

Please be advised that in accordance with Aquarian Minyan policy, to allow people with chemical sensitivities to participate, this service will be SCENT FREE. Please do not wear scented products. If you have questions about what that means, you may email kerrick@chochmat.org.

Faith and Sexuality Film Series at the JCC East Bay
The films in this thought-provoking series explore the intersections between faith and sexual orientation. Screenings will be followed by a discussion featuring a panel of distinguished speakers from a range of faiths and backgrounds, including lay leaders and clergy. Co-Presented by Jewish Mosaic, Frameline and the Queer Cultural Center. These screenings are FREE for JCC Members, general Admission – $8 per screening, pass for the whole series, $15.

Thursday June 12, 7:30pm – Trembling Before G-d
Winner of the Best Documentary prize at the Berlin Film Festival, Trembling Before G-d shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, the film portrays a group of people who face a profound dilemma—how to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality.

Tuesday July 22, 7:30pm – For the Bible Tells Me So
Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? Through the experiences of five American families—including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson—we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard’s Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For the Bible Tells Me So offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.

Thursday September 18, 7:30pm—A Jihad for Love
Filmmaker Parvez Sharma travels the many worlds of this dynamic faith, discovering the stories of its most unlikely storytellers: lesbian and gay Muslims. Filmed over five years, in twelve countries and nine languages, A Jihad for Love explores the complex global intersections between Islam and homosexuality. Each interviewee has a vastly different personal take on Islam, some observing a rigorously orthodox regimen, others leading highly secular lifestyles while remaining spiritually devout.

For more info: http://www.jcceastbay.org/jcc/arts_culture_film_Faith.htm