Jeremy's Rabbinic Ordination

Dear friends,

For a long and wonderful ten years, I've stood up for inclusion in the Jewish community.  I paid the price when I was excluded from rabbinical school because of my stance for interfaith dating and marriage.  I wouldn't agree that it's the job of rabbis to tell me or anyone whom to date or marry.  I persevered through obstacles and found people willing to help me.  I worked very, very, very hard.  Now, I'm almost ready to become a rabbi after studying since 2010 with Rabbi Natan Margalit of Newton, MA, and having almost completed a Master of Divinity Degree from Harvard.  Between my Harvard program, my year in Israel which I won in a competitive fellowship program from Harvard, and my studies with Rabbi Natan, I believe I'm prepared for my career as a rabbi.  I'll always stand up for Jewish inclusion.

The final step to my ordination will be when a panel of at least three rabbis convenes -- we're going to do it on the Harvard campus -- to make me a rabbi, too.

The catch?  The rabbis on my panel may be taking a professional risk standing with me.  Several strong, local rabbinic supporters of mine haven't been able to participate because of their involvement in organized movements.  I'm lucky to have a rabbi from the West Coast who'll be flying in, and a rabbi who's willing to travel all the way from Israel to be part of my ordination!  But I need to pay for their airfare and lodging in Boston, and I don't have any money.

I'm asking you to stand with me today.  I'm asking you to support what I did when I decided not to compromise my beliefs to get into rabbinical school.  I'll never believe rabbis have the power to dictate whom anyone should love.  I need you to stand with me for Jewish inclusion, for religious inclusion, or just for the simple idea that religious leaders ought to celebrate love, not judge it.  Help me bring the courageous rabbis who've agreed to be on my panel to Boston so that I can be ordained.  They can't pay for their airfare or lodging out of pocket, either.  I don't know exactly how much all of that will cost, so the fundraising goal is a guesstimate. Unfortunately, Boston lodging costs are nothing to sneeze at, even if you don't go for the deluxe.

I can't tell you how grateful I'll be for each and every gift, no matter how small or how large.  Please help me become a rabbi.  I won't stop standing up for inclusion, fairness and decency, not just in marriage, Israel-Palestine, LGBTQ identity, mental health, preventing sexual violence, inclusion of Jews of many different backgrounds and ideas, interfaith families, antiracism, or any of the other causes you've all seen me stand up for over the years.  I don't have the money to cross the big threshold by myself, so I need you to join me now.

Goodness knows I've had differing amounts of income, high and low, over my life.  People can afford to give differing amounts, and every gift counts.  Whether you give $5 or $500, you'll be part of what makes my rabbinical career possible, and I'll never be able to thank you enough.

Please note that your donation will not be tax-deductible because it goes to an event benefiting me personally.  If I should be fortunate enough to raise more money here than I need for the ceremony, I will offer you the ability to convert all or part of your donation to a tax-deductible gift to This Is Judaism, Inc., through our fiscal sponsor Organic Torah, Inc. (that's my ordaining rabbi's organization), starting with donations of largest size.