"A group of #Orthodox #rabbis from the #US and #Israel issued a strongly worded letter condemning discredited practices that try to “convert” #LGBTQ+ people to #heterosexuality — a rarity for an establishment that still largely sees #queer people as sinful.

The letter, which was drafted years ago but released earlier in January in Israel, includes the signatures of prominent #modernOrthodox rabbis, including Yitz Greenberg, Shmuly Yanklowitz and Daniel Sperber, as well as a number of female rabbis.

[...]

“We the undersigned,” it begins, “believe that it is forbidden according to #Halakhic principle and ethos, for anyone, including a #rabbi, #rabbanit, educator, or therapist to recommend to any person to undergo treatment for the purpose of changing a person’s #sexualorientation, commonly known as ‘#conversiontherapy. This is because conversion therapy is harmful, does not work, and because same-sex attraction is not a mental health problem.”

https://religionnews.com/2026/01/28/in-new-letter-modern-orthodox-rabbis-say-conversion-therapy-is-forbidden/

"Rabbeinu Gershom was born in #Metz, northeast #France, in 960. If he were transported to Metz 500 years later, little would likely have changed. Metz in 1460 would be pretty much the same. Same language, similar culture, same persecution, and #Jewish life there would be, for the most part, the same.

In contrast, consider a member of the #ModernOrthodox community in the US in the 1950s. If transported to the 1970s, such a person would have had difficulty recognizing their #religious community because of significant changes in religious practices, communal priorities, and identity.

This dramatic transformation is the #story that Dr. Lawrence Grossman (former director of publications at the #AmericanJewishCommittee and #editor of the #American #Jewish Year #Book) brilliantly details in Living in Both Worlds: Modern Orthodox #Judaism in the #UnitedStates, 1945–2025 (Academic Studies Press)."

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/book-review-living-in-both-worlds-modern-orthodox-judaism-in-the-united-states-1945-2025/

It's lovely to find that Deracheha ~ an initiative of Yeshivat Har Etzion ~ is posting online their free 'Parent-Daughter #BatMitzvah Guide,' based on "the #halachic presumption (chazaka) that the young person has developed the appropriate signs of maturity..."

You can find the resources and download the guide here ~ https://www.deracheha.org/bat-mitzva/

#halacha #Halachah #modernorthodox

Have you davened from Mishkan Tefila? This is the newest #siddur from #ReformJudaism

In your view, wow does it compare to the classic Reform prayerbook, Gates of Prayer? To the Conservative movement's Siddur Sim Shalom, or the #ModernOrthodox Koren Sacks Siddur?

#tefila #daven #davening