Please go through the following texts one at a time and together. Don't read ahead! Stay with your group. Be honest with yourself and patient with eachother.
וַיְהִ֨י אֹמֵ֜ן אֶת־הֲדַסָּ֗ה הִ֤יא אֶסְתֵּר֙ בַּת־דֹּד֔וֹ כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין לָ֖הּ אָ֣ב וָאֵ֑ם...
He [Mordecai] was foster parent to Hadassah—that is, Esther—his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother...
...מָרְדְּכַי זָן וּפִרְנֵס, אָמַר רַבִּי יוּדָן פַּעַם אַחַת חִזֵּר עַל כָּל הַמֵּנִיקוֹת וְלֹא מָצָא לְאֶסְתֵּר לְאַלְתָּר מֵינִיקָה, וְהָיָה מֵינִיקָהּ הוּא,
רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה וְרַבִּי אַבָּהוּ בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בָּא לוֹ חָלָב וְהָיָה מֵינִיקָהּ...
(Composed in Talmudic Israel/Babylon (500 CE), Bereshit Rabbah is a talmudic-era midrash on the Book of Genesis.)
Mordekhai fed and sustained!
Rabbi Yudan said: Once, he went out to search among all of the wetnurses, but he did not find one appropriate for nursing Esther, so Mordekhai breastfed her.
Rabbi Berkhiyah and Rabbi Abahu said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer: Milk came to him so he breastfed her...
Before you read the rest of the above source, discuss the following:
- How did it feel to read this text? Surprising? Funny? Moving? Be honest!
- Why might you have felt that way?
- Why do you think the rabbis wrote/transmitted this text?
- Is this text Queer? How?
Now, read the rest of this source with your group...
...כַּד דָּרַשׁ רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ בְּצִבּוּרָא גָּחוֹךְ צִבּוּרָא לְקָלֵיהּ
אֲמַר לְהוֹן וְלָא מַתְנִיתָּא הִיא?
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר אוֹמֵר חָלָב הַזָּכָר טָהוֹר.
...Once, Rabbi Abahu gave a sermon on this to his synagogue, and the congregation laughed to hear about it.
He responded to them: “Is this not Torah?!”
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar taught: the milk of a male is ritually pure.
(with much thanks to Sass Orol who brought this text to my attention)
Discuss with your group:
- What do you make of the congregation's reaction?
- What do you make of Rabbi Abahu's response?
- How might this text be relevant at camp?
Americans' Self-Identification as LGBT, by Generation:
| LGBT | Straight/Heterosexual | No opinion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Generation Z (born 1997-2002) | 15.9 | 78.9 | 5.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Millennials (born 1981-1996) | 9.1 | 82.7 | 8.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Generation X (born 1965-1980) | 3.8 | 88.6 | 7.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) | 2.0 | 91.1 | 6.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditionalists (born before 1946) | 1.3 | 89.9 | 8.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GALLUP, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
*If there are 12-16 campers in your bunk, this suggests that, likely, 2-3 of them either identify or may one day identify as LGBTQ. Because LGBTQ identification keeps going up each generation (many of our campers were born after 2002) these numbers may be even higher!