To be a queer Jew is to know
oneself and one’s shortcomings
is to survive fear
is to be hugged
within the threads of our tapestry –
the mixed multitude
of us.
Is to honor our defiant confidence
in a state that would erase us
from the wizened classroom board
faded in the ashes of white chalk:
invisible, though we are not
immune from threats to our divinity.
Our feet hurt from praying –
stamping through miles of pride marches
wading through riots and protests
commanding presence by survival alone
tip-toeing the eggshells
of fragile familial expectations.
We clutch the pearls
of our fragile expectations –
respect, integrity, supportive handshakes –
returned.
May we deliver ourselves into the treasured Holy Era
of supreme acceptance –
love of the Ein Sof –
tapestry of Bereshit
within fingers’ reach.
To be a queer Jew is to imagine these possibilities:
Homeland within the mixed multitude.
