“Oberstein: Boston Pride must fully include Jews,” Rabbi Andrew Oberstein

Oberstein: Boston Pride must fully include Jews
Boston Herald, published May 30, 2025

Every June, I look forward to Pride — not just for the parades, the music, and the rainbow flags, but because it’s a sacred reminder: we’re still here. Still resisting. Still loving. Still building a world where everyone can live as their full, authentic selves.

Pride has always felt like home. It was the first space I felt I could embrace my whole self. It’s where I get to bring all of who I am — Jewish and queer — without having to choose between those identities. But this year, that sense of belonging feels more uncertain.

Since Oct. 7, we’ve seen a sharp rise in antisemitism — across the country, around the world, and right here in Greater Boston. And I’ve heard from Jewish queer friends, congregants, and colleagues who are asking whether it’s safe — or welcome — to show up at Pride this year.

Not because they fear people outside the movement, but because they’re unsure whether their full selves will be embraced within it.

These aren’t hypotheticals. In Chicago, the Dyke March explicitly excluded participants carrying rainbow flags with Jewish stars. In Washington D.C., Jewish groups have been told their presence at Pride events is unwelcome unless they publicly denounce Israel. In Philadelphia, organizers disinvited an LGBTQ Jewish organization due to its stance on Israel. In San Francisco, Jewish Pride participants have faced harassment for carrying symbols like the Star of David. And just days ago, two Israeli embassy staff members were murdered outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, after attending an event promoting peace and humanitarian diplomacy. This horrific attack underscores the vulnerability Jewish communities continue to face as antisemitism rises nationwide.

I’ve heard the questions: Will I be welcome if I wear a Star of David? Will I have to hide my connection to Israel? Will I be judged or excluded simply for being Jewish?

At Temple Israel of Boston, we embrace the Jewish value of “makhloket l’shem sh’mayim,” or “disagreement for the sake of heaven.” This means we hold a wide range of views about all Jewish topics, including Israel and the war in Gaza. And we work hard to stay in relationship across those differences. That’s what true community means: making space for nuance, for disagreement, and for one another.

That same spirit belongs at Boston Pride.

The power of Pride has always been its radical inclusivity — its insistence that queer people of every race, background, gender, faith, and politics deserve to be seen, heard, and loved. That must include Jewish LGBTQ+ people in all our diversity.

We’re brought together by a shared longing to live fully and freely — without having to hide or shrink part of who we are — not by any particular partisan perspective.

To be clear: Criticism of Israeli policy is fair, and often necessary. But when Jewish LGBTQ+ people feel pressure to disavow their Zionist identity or suppress their grief in order to be accepted, that’s a problem. That’s not justice — it’s erasure.

This year, I’m partnering with A Wider Bridge, an organization working to advance LGBTQ+ inclusion in Jewish life — and Jewish inclusion in LGBTQ+ spaces. Together, we’re working with Pride organizers here in Boston to ensure that queer Jewish voices are welcomed — not despite our identities, but because of them.

To the organizers of Boston Pride: thank you. Your leadership makes this celebration possible. As you prepare for this year’s events, I hope you’ll continue listening to Jewish LGBTQ+ voices and making space for all of who we are.

To LGBTQ+ allies: let’s keep building a movement rooted in true solidarity. That means standing up to antisemitism in all its forms — even when it’s subtle, even when it’s uncomfortable.

And to every queer Jew wondering if you still belong at Pride: You do. You are exactly who you’re meant to be. Show up. Wear your symbols of pride, both Jewish and queer. Boston’s LGBTQ+ community is stronger because you’re in it.

I’ll be at Boston Pride this year — marching not just for myself, but for everyone who’s ever been told they’re too Jewish, too queer, too political, or too loud. Because this is our movement, too. And we deserve to be in it — fully and joyfully.

Andrew Oberstein is rabbi at Temple Israel of Boston, the largest congregation in Boston.

Read Article