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For a more comprehensive list of Bay Area Jewish resources please review the Resource Guide to Jewish Life in the Bay Area.


LGBT Social and Spiritual Connections for Jewish life in the Bay Area

 

  • Congregation Sha'ar Zahav*, means the Congregation of the Golden Gate and is a progressive Reform synagogue, established in 1977. Members and guests are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual Jews, together with family and friends, both Jewish and non-Jewish.
  • LGBT Alliance Facebook Page, together we are passionately building a visible, vocal, and vibrant online LGBT San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community.
  • Out and About, furthers Oakland's Temple Sinai’s mission of being a welcoming and inclusive congregation for all – including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning Jews, along with their families, friends, and allies. They are a group of Temple Sinai congregants who want to foster a LGBT Jewish community in the East Bay. 
  • Keshet, meaning Rainbow, at Congregation Beth Shalom, is the Gay and Lesbian Chavurah Outreach Program formed in December of 1997 for the purpose of gathering together in creating visibility, support and awareness for issues related to being part of a LGBT identity.   
  • Nehirim, means lights and works to build community for GLBT Jews, partners, and allies. With their retreats and programs celebrating GLBT culture and spirituality they empower GLBT Jews to become active voices in their home communities.  
  • NUJLS, the Nehirim Student Program, is the National Union of Jewish Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer Students founded by students in 1997. Today NUJLS is a program for Jewish students and young adults of diverse sexual and gender identities who empower their communities and themselves through education, support, and outreach.   
  • Kulanu, meaning all of us, was established to provide support for the friends and family of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews in the Congregation Beth Am community as well as promote the inclusion of same-sex couples and families.
  • Trans Torah, helps people of all genders to fully access and transform Jewish tradition. The site and the leaders manageing the site also helps Jewish communities to be welcoming sanctuaries for people of all genders.
  • A Wider Bridge, believes it's time to build A Wider Bridge, which spans continents and has many paths for LGBTQ connection with Israel. Find yours, and join the conversation. Come with your love for Israel, your questions and concerns. 

LGBT Healing Resources for Jewish life in the Bay Area 

 
  • Shalom Bayit* advocates on behalf of Jewish battered women to end domestic violence in Jewish homes. With a pledge to support battered women of all sexual orientations (and yes, the diversity of gender identities) and to educate the Jewish community about domestic violence this is a safe place to find help.
  • Jewish Family and Children's Services (JFCS)* of San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Santa Clara, and San Mateo Counties is a lifeline for children, families, and older adults facing life transitions and personal crises. Since the 1980's JFCS has reached out with programs geared specifically to meet LGBT community’s needs. In addition to adoption and post-adoption services and services for people with HIV or AIDS, they offer counseling services for LGBT individuals, couples, and families--with special outreach to the elderly. 
  • HIV Plus Mag provides a comprehensive list of contacts and resources that emphasizes international organizations, newsletters, forums, articles, and expert advice columns involving HIV and AIDS as topics with specific contact information to organizations that provide referrals for local groups.
    • Bay Area Jewish Healing Center,* offers spiritual support to any Jew coping with illness, dying, or grief - regardless of affiliation or ability to pay - through the services of specially trained (including a specific focus on empowerment of all people of all sexual orientations and gender identities) rabbis and volunteers. They also provide support, training and information to individuals, organizations, and institutions working with Jews at home, in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, summer camps, schools and other care facilities. Whether through prayer, specialized rituals, education, information or simply a listening presence, Bay Area Jewish Healing Center can help you and those you care about during difficult times.
    • The Jewish Home,* specifically trains the Activities and Social Services departments with practical clinical tools to work with Senior LGBT clients. With a commitment for continued learning of LGBT seniors’ unique psychosocial needs and concerns their training includes best practices for collaborating with colleagues within the Home and in the larger Jewish and LGBT communities to insure high cultural competency addressing the cultural, religious, gender and sexual orientation aspects of clients’ identities, support systems, and well-being.
    • Sinai Memorial Chapel's* Next Steps Program: Grief Support for Mourners in alliance with the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center this program is trained for the welcoming and inclusion of LGBT Jews.
    • Jewish Family and Children's Services of the East Bay (JFCS) operates LGBT Service programs in addition to more than 25 programs within five core service areas: Volunteer, Refugee & Immigrant, Counseling, Parenting and Youth and Older Adults.

LGBT Culture & Spirituality for Jewish life Nationally 

LGBT Culture & Spirituality for Jewish life Internationally


LGBT Education & Employment Centers in the Bay Area  

 
LGBT Students & Youth Resources in the Bay Area  

 
LGBT Civil & Legal Rights Advocacy in the Bay Area  

By no means is this a fully comprehensive list but it is a starting point. Please contact us with ideas of groups or links that are not listed here but have been helpful in your work or in your life towards increasing opportunities for Bay Area LGBT Jews to fully participate and celebrate in Jewish life. Links with an asterisk (*) next to them denote beneficiaries of the Jewish Community Federation's annual campaign or via the LGBT Alliance annual community support allocations.

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