UCSD Students Create “Torah Queeries” Learning Group

As a new member of the LGBT Resource Center’s Affiliates Program, UC San Diego Hillel students meet once a week in the LGBT Resource Center for a program called “Torah Queeries.” The program is structured around reading a book of the same name, which is comprised of a queer interpretation of each Torah portion.

Each week, students read through and analyze the chapter corresponding to that week’s Torah portion. Torah Queeries encourages students to think critically about Jewish tradition and thought, as well as introduces new perspectives on the text. It provides an open and affirming space for queer-identifying students to hold both their queer and Jewish identities simultaneously, and for allies to learn about different ways of reading our traditional text.

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Blake grew up in a small town in Colorado. He and his family were the only Jews. They had to drive an hour to go […]

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