Rabbi Steve Fisch and former President Diane Litke
The tradition of Pride Shabbat follows Proverbs 16:18, which instructs, “Pride comes before the fall,” according to Rabbi Steve Fisch of Congregation Beth El Binah.
Fisch explained Jews are instructed to celebrate Pride before fall, so Dallas Pride in September is fine as long as it’s before the autumnal equinox. Fort Worth Pride, which takes place in October, violates God’s commandment, he said. The Fort Worth LGBT community would be going to hell, Fisch explained, “but we don’t have hell, so they’re safe as far as I’m concerned.”
On Friday, Congregation Beth El Binah celebrates the ancient biblical festival of Gay Pride Shabbat. Cantor Sherri Allen of Temple Beth Shalom in Arlington will join Fisch to conduct Pride Shabbat service at Resource Center, 2701 Reagan at 7:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome.
Fisch said he invited Allen because the congregation sings so terribly.
“On a really good night, listening to us sing three different tunes in five keys all at once can be painful,” Fisch said.
While Beth El Binah was the first synagogue in Texas to celebrate Pride, it is no longer the only one. Pride Shabbat celebrations are more common in Reform synagogues, but in Texas at least one Conservative synagogue also celebrates Pride. In Austin, Congregation Agudas Achim held Pride Shabbat earlier this month, calling on some of its LGBT members to read Torah.
In a statement released this week, the Union for Reform Judaism said, “Reform Judaism has a long and proud history of working for the full inclusion of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) people in Jewish life and for their full civil rights.” But not all Reform synagogues celebrate Pride Shabbat. In Dallas, Congregation Beth El Binah is the only synagogue that does.
