"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/

There’s been a lot of interest (likes and reposts) in my recent brief post about the birth, rabbinical ordination, and Auschwitz death of Regina Jonas. Maybe people would be interested in seeing her photograph, taken from the Jewish Women’s Archive site:

#ReginaJonas #auschwitz #judaism #rabbi #rabbanit

On this day in 1935 Regina Jonas was ordained as the world's first female rabbi. She was born in Berlin in 1902 and murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. May her memory forever be a blessing.

#auschwitz #judaism #rabbi #rabbanit