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Surging LGBTQ enrollment in Jewish seminaries signals ‘astounding’ shift in US rabbinate
(JTA) — Hannah Karpel-Pomerantz and her wife met as rabbinical school classmates in Jerusalem four years ago, bonding over their love of Jewish texts and rituals. This August, as they began their final two years of school, Hebrew Union College splashed the couple across its website in an essay celebrating their relationship.
“HUC wanted to feature me and my wife as a love story — as something that makes the school look good,” Karpel-Pomerantz said. “It signals that American progressive Jewish life has evolved to the point where LGBTQ inclusion is a no-brainer.”
A new national study suggests just how deeply that shift has taken hold: 51% of the rabbinical students surveyed identified as LGBTQ+. It’s an eye-popping finding that provides the first empirical evidence for a phenomenon many in the non-Orthodox rabbinate have been noticing for years.
“If you take a historical perspective, it is rather astounding, given the fact that rabbinical schools weren’t even accepting LGBTQ students until the 1990s or later,” said Jonathan Krasner, a professor of Jewish studies at Brandeis University.
The demographic shift can be linked to a broader transformation in the rabbinate, as the old “sage on the stage” model gives way to a more pastoral, responsive style of leadership. Aspiring rabbis are entering the field with new expectations, while congregations are placing unprecedented demands on clergy, fueling a placement crisis that has left many pulpits empty.
As they make the case for their students, educators say LGBTQ rabbis, shaped by the long fight for inclusion, are emerging as the leaders the community needs amid polarization and rising antisemitism.
“For 23 years, SVARA has invited queer Jews into the long project of upgrading the tradition,” said Rabbi Benay Lappe, founder of the queer yeshiva whose alumni now populate rabbinical schools across the country. “Queer people understand upheaval, resilience, and creativity — the same toolkit that catalyzed rabbinic Judaism itself. When people who’ve had to reimagine their own lives step into spiritual leadership, they bring clarity and empathy that enrich the whole community.”
Lappe added, “The question is not ‘Why so many queer people?’ but rather, ‘Why is this extraordinarily good news for the future of Judaism?’”
The new research, published by a group called Atra, bills itself as the first comprehensive, cross-denominational study of the American rabbinate. But its headline-grabbing LGBTQ+ figure requires some clarification: It is based on a survey of 181 volunteer respondents, with limited participation from Orthodox students, making it impossible to know how precisely it reflects the entire population of aspiring rabbis.
Still, the study’s lead researcher, Wendy Rosov, said the finding should not be dismissed. “Even if the estimate is high, it’s not far off — it is not a crazy statistic,” she said.
Rosov noted that seminaries do not systematically track students’ sexual orientation or gender identity, but several told her team informally that as many as half of their current students identify as LGBTQ+. She also pointed to broader survey data showing rising rates of LGBTQ identification among young Americans — and among young Jews in particular — which helps explain the pattern.
There is clear year-over-year evidence within the study itself. Among surveyed rabbis ordained before 2004, only 7% identified as LGBTQ+. The share rises to 15% for those ordained between 2005 and 2014, 29% for the 2015-2024 cohort, and 51% among current students.
The study does not attempt to explain the trend, and Rosov declined to offer theories, citing a lack of data.
Scholars and educators expect the dramatic numbers to stir murmurs in some corners of the Jewish community about the “queering of the rabbinate.” Krasner said those anxieties echo an earlier chapter in Jewish history, when women began enrolling in rabbinical schools in significant numbers and some predicted a “feminization” of Judaism and a loss of rabbinic authority.
“Those concerns were overblown,” he said. What mattered then, he added, is what matters now: that people can see themselves reflected in their religious leaders. “I’m not worried about the rabbinate ‘going queer.’ We should be cautious about that kind of anxiety.”
Deborah Waxman, president of Reconstructing Judaism, remembers that earlier era firsthand. When she came out to her mother during her first year of rabbinical school in 1993, the reaction was immediate — and telling.
“My mother cried,” Waxman recalled. “She said, it’s already going to be so hard for you as a woman rabbi, I’m so worried that you will never get employed as a lesbian.”
At the time, Waxman said, those fears weren’t unfounded. Many queer students worried that being open about who they were could jeopardize their ordination or leave them unemployable. Waxman’s career bridges both eras, and she has learned to reinterpret the social anxieties of the past as markers of how dramatically the landscape has shifted.
One leading theory among rabbinic educators is that the surge in LGBTQ students represents not only a new openness but also generations of pent-up aspiration. For much of modern American Jewish history, LGBTQ Jews were barred from the rabbinate. Once that barrier fell, seminary leaders say, the long-deferred interest began to surface.
Andrew Rehfeld, president of Hebrew Union College, calls it a “backlog of interest.”
“For years, gay and lesbian Jews were excluded not only from leadership, but from many communities themselves,” Rehfeld said. “Now that the doors are open, it’s not surprising there’s an equilibrium happening.”
Shuly Rubin Schwartz, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary and a historian of American Judaism, said she is reminded of the pattern that unfolded before. When the rabbinate first opened its doors to women, she said, there was an initial wave of interest from people who had long been denied access.
“You have a group that has been marginalized throughout Jewish history finally given the opportunity to exercise leadership,” she said. “What we’re seeing now is similar.”
Another theory holds that the trend reflects a deeper affinity between queer identity and Jewish spiritual life.
Lappe sees this clearly through SVARA, her queer-centered yeshiva, where thousands of LGBTQ Jews have engaged in Talmud study over the past two decades. Many of her students later apply to rabbinical school.
“This shift isn’t an accident,” she said, referring to the new study. “It’s a predictable outcome of a tradition that has always been renewed by people moving through upheaval. When people who have had to courageously reimagine their own lives step into spiritual leadership, they bring clarity, empathy, and a commitment to justice that enriches the whole community. That shows you where this energy is coming from.”
For many aspiring rabbis, that process begins long before they arrive on campus.
Karpel-Pomerantz said LGBTQ Jews often come to the rabbinate with a level of self-awareness that grows out of the work of understanding their identities. “LGBTQ people are sometimes almost on the fast track to having done a lot of the soul-searching that can help prepare people for the rabbinate in a meaningful way,” she said.
The increase in LGBTQ enrollment has come in tandem with an evolution in the role of a rabbi. Once defined primarily as a learned authority who delivered sermons and rendered halakhic decisions, the rabbi was positioned above the community. Today, rabbis are expected to serve as pastoral caregivers, counselors, organizers and companions in moments of crisis. Their authority is less formal and more relational, grounded in presence, empathy and trust rather than in scholarly distance.
Krasner noted that LGBTQ Americans are generally overrepresented in “helping professions” like social work, counseling, and education. Rabbinic work, increasingly centered on pastoral care, fits that pattern.
Karpel-Pomerantz sees the same phenomenon in herself and in many peers. “I’m in rabbinical school because I want to be a clinical pastoral educator,” she said. “First, I need to become a hospital chaplain, and then I can learn to teach other people how to do it.”
Even as seminaries become more welcoming, the job market is still uneven for LGBTQ clergy. Rabbi Leora Kaye, director of career services for the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the association for Reform rabbis, said she tries to prepare students honestly.
“I can’t promise them they won’t encounter bias,” she said. “What I do promise is that we’ll do everything we can to make it as safe as possible. We respond when situations arise. We don’t let people face it alone.”
As a sign of the Reform movement’s commitment, she cited anti-bias training that is now a requirement for search committees in congregations before they begin interviewing rabbis.
Often, Kaye said, LGBTQ graduates find congregations that are enthusiastic about their leadership.
“We see many situations where sexuality or gender identity is not an issue at all, or where it’s embraced,” she said. “Communities want rabbis who are compassionate, grounded, and capable. And many of them are explicitly seeking rabbis who reflect their own diversity.”
Rehfeld also said that despite broad acceptance in many congregations, discrimination still happens. He recalled how one HUC graduate ended an interview process after being asked inappropriate questions.
“The harm was real for the student,” he said. “But the bigger loss was for the congregation. Discrimination keeps talent out of the pool.”
The student ultimately found a “fantastic” pulpit, he added: “They still ended up in middle America in a relatively rural place that they never thought about living.” He sees the outcome as a testament to the movement’s ethical guidelines and support systems.
Both working as rabbinic interns at congregations in the Los Angeles area, Karpel-Pomerantz and her wife feel confident about what they have to offer and optimistic about what will come after graduation.
“At this particular moment in history, there is something really valuable about people who have multiple marginalized identities being willing to take on the role of leader of communities,” she said. “And I hope that our communities are able to see the presence of queer folks as the gift that I believe it to be.”
The post Surging LGBTQ enrollment in Jewish seminaries signals ‘astounding’ shift in US rabbinate appeared first on The Forward.
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An activist criticized Miami Beach’s Jewish mayor on Facebook — then police came knocking
Miami Beach’s Jewish mayor and his police chief are facing blowback after detectives questioned a local activist over a Facebook post in which she accused the mayor of endorsing violence against Palestinians.
Two weeks ago, Raquel Pacheco commented on a Facebook post by Mayor Steven Meiner, in which he wrote that Miami Beach “is a safe haven for everyone.” He compared Miami Beach with New York City, which he said was “intentionally removing protections against select groups, including promoting boycotts of Israeli/Jewish businesses.”
“The guy who consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians, tried to shut down a theater for showing a movie that hurt his feelings, and REFUSES to stand up for the LGBTQ community in any way (even leaves the room when they vote on related matters) wants you to know that you’re all welcome here. 🤡🤡🤡” Pacheco commented.
Five days later, police showed up at Pacheco’s door.
Pacheco recorded the encounter, which showed a detective telling her the Facebook post “can probably incite someone to do something radical,” and that Pacheco should “refrain from posting things like that because that could get something incited.”
“This is freedom of speech,” Pacheco told the officer. “This is America, right?”
Pacecho later acknowledged Meiner hadn’t explicitly called for the death of all Palestinians, but told Axios that she viewed Meiner’s public support for Israel as amounting to an endorsement of genocide.
In a statement, Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne Jones said he “had serious concerns that her remarks could trigger physical action by others,” in the context of “the real, ongoing national and international concerns surrounding antisemitic attacks and recent rhetoric that has led to violence against political figures.”
Jones added that “at no time did the mayor or any other official direct me to take action.” Meiner’s office did not respond to the Forward’s request for comment.
The video of the encounter has gone viral on social media, with many commenters expressing disbelief at what they view as a clear misuse of police power.
“Wtf,” conservative media personality Megyn Kelly posted to X alongside the video.
The free speech advocacy group FIRE called the incident “offensive to the First Amendment,” arguing that the Facebook post fell short of the legal threshold to be considered incitement.
‘One-sided propaganda’
This isn’t the first time Miami Beach has cracked down on speech related to Israel.
In March, Meiner threatened to evict and defund a movie theater that scheduled screenings of No Other Land, an Oscar-winning documentary about a group of Israeli and Palestinian activists trying to save a village in the West Bank from demolition.
Meiner called the film “a one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people.” He ultimately backed away from his resolution to revoke the theater’s lease from the city after it became clear the City Commission would not vote for his proposal.
A year earlier, in response to pro-Palestinian protests, Meiner sponsored legislation that made it a criminal offense for anyone to obstruct a street or sidewalk after being ordered to leave by police.
At a City Commission meeting discussing the ordinance, Meiner muted the microphone of two Jewish residents who opposed the legislation and were speaking out against Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
“This is a nonpartisan commission meeting, and I’m not going to allow you to debase and lie about the Israeli government,” Meiner said.
From Yeshiva of Flatbush to Miami Beach mayor
Meiner was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn, where he attended Yeshiva of Flatbush. His father worked for the Internal Revenue Service and his mother was a public school teacher and guidance counselor.
Meiner attended Brooklyn College and Brooklyn Law School, moving to Miami Beach in 2007 to work as a lawyer for the Securities and Exchange Commission. He left that job amid accusations of unwanted sexual advances toward colleagues. Meiner denied the allegations and said he believed they were motivated by his colleagues’ antagonism to his staunch pro-Israel stance.
In 2019, Meiner won a seat on the City Commission of Miami Beach, and in 2023, was elected mayor of Miami Beach, which is a nonpartisan office. He has branded himself as the “law and order mayor” and encouraged New Yorkers to move to Florida after the election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
An estimated 20% of households in Miami Beach are Jewish, according to a 2024 survey by the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, with a higher percentage of Jews there feeling a strong emotional connection to Israel than the national average.
That background shapes Meiner’s approach to leadership. In September, Meiner appeared on the podcast “Standpoint with Gabe Groisman” and spoke about his experience governing as an Orthodox Jew, including how he responds when confronted with opposition.
“There are people who tell me, ‘Just let them speak. Don’t even counter them.’ That, to me, is not wise,” Meiner said. “They can have their free speech, but people need to be educated and know when something is vile and antisemitic.”
The post An activist criticized Miami Beach’s Jewish mayor on Facebook — then police came knocking appeared first on The Forward.
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Syria Gives Kurds Four Days to Accept Integration as US Signals End of Support
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters walk near an armored vehicle, following clashes between SDF and Syrian government forces, in Hasakah, Syria, Jan. 20, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
Syria on Tuesday announced a ceasefire with Kurdish forces it has seized swathes of territory from in the northeast and gave them four days to agree on integrating into the central state, which their main ally, the United States, urged them to accept.
The lightning government advances in recent days and the apparent withdrawal of US support for the continued holding of territory by the Syrian Democratic Forces represent the biggest change of control in the country since rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad 13 months ago.
US envoy Tom Barrack in a social media post described the offer of integration into the central Syrian state with citizenship rights, cultural protections, and political participation as the “greatest opportunity” the Kurds have.
He added that the original purpose of the SDF, which Washington had supported as its main local ally battling Islamic State, had largely expired, and that the US had no long-term interest in retaining its presence in Syria.
The United States is monitoring with “grave concern” developments in Syria, a White House official said, and urged all relevant parties to continue negotiating in “good faith.”
“We urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint, avoid actions that could further escalate tensions, and prioritize the protection of civilians across all minority groups,” the White House official said.
FOUR-DAY CEASEFIRE
The SDF said it accepted a ceasefire agreement with the Damascus government and that it would not engage in any military action unless attacked.
A Syrian government statement said it had reached an understanding with the SDF for it to devise an integration plan for Hasakah province or risk state forces entering two SDF-controlled cities.
The government announced a four-day ceasefire starting on Tuesday evening and said it had asked the SDF to submit the name of a candidate to take the role of assistant to the defense minister in Damascus as part of the integration.
Northeast Syria, wedged between Turkey and Iraq, is home to both Kurds and Arabs and was largely overrun by Islamic State fighters a decade ago before the SDF drove them back with air support from a US-led coalition.
However, advances by the SDF’s main component, the Kurdish YPG force, were concerning to US ally Turkey, which regarded it as an offshoot of the PKK group that had waged a years-long insurgency inside Turkey.
Since Assad was overthrown in December 2024, Syria has been led by former rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who at one stage controlled the al Qaeda offshoot in the country, and who has emerged as a close ally of Turkey.
Northeast Syria remains sensitive to Ankara, and is of wider international concern because of the presence of SDF-guarded facilities holding thousands of detained Islamic State militants and civilians associated with them.
ISLAMIC STATE DETAINEES
About 200 low-level Islamic State fighters escaped Shaddadi prison in northeast Syria on Monday when the SDF departed, but Syrian government forces recaptured many of them, a US official said on Tuesday.
The Syrian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that about 120 Islamic State detainees escaped, 81 of whom had been recaptured.
The SDF said it had also withdrawn from al-Hol camp housing thousands of civilians linked to the jihadist group near the Iraqi border.
A senior Syrian government defense official said Damascus had notified the US of the SDF intention to withdraw from the vicinity of al-Hol camp and that government forces were ready to deploy there.
The SDF has previously said it was guarding some 10,000 IS fighters.
Syrian military sources said government troops had advanced on Tuesday in eastern areas of Hasakah province and south of the town of Kobani on the border with Turkey.
The SDF remains in control of Hasakah City, the provincial capital, which is ethnically mixed between Kurds and Arabs, and the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli.
The government statement said it would not try to enter Hasakah or Qamishli cities during the four days it had given the SDF to outline a plan for integrating into the Syrian state.
MONTHS OF DEADLOCK
Tensions between the SDF and Damascus spilled into conflict this month after deadlock over the fate of the group’s fighters and territory as it resisted government demands to dissolve into the defense ministry.
On Sunday the SDF agreed to withdraw from the Arab-majority provinces of Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, and on Monday government forces pushed into Hasakah province.
Reports indicated that SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and Sharaa held a rocky meeting on Monday, after Abdi’s signature appeared on a 14-point agreement with the government.
The United States, which has established close ties with Sharaa under President Donald Trump, has been closely involved in mediation between the sides.
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Iranian Lawmakers Threaten ‘Jihad’ if Supreme Leader Attacked
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 17, 2026. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday warned that any attack on Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would lead to a declaration of “jihad,” or holy war, and a violent global response from the Islamic world.
The threat came as tensions between Washington and Tehran continued to escalate amid Iran’s deadly crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to “hit” the Iranian regime and “help” the demonstrators if the violent repression continues.
“Any attack on the supreme leader means declaring war on the entire Islamic world,” Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency quoted the parliamentary National Security Committee as saying. The commission reportedly added that those responsible for the attack should expect “the issuance of a jihad decree by Islamic scholars and the response of Islam’s soldiers in all parts of the world.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issued a similar warning on Sunday, saying an attack on Khamenei would be viewed as a declaration of war.
“Any aggression against the supreme leader of our country is tantamount to all-out war against the Iranian nation,” he posted on social media.
Such threats from Iranian leaders have come amid speculation that the US may take coercive measures against Iran, including potential military strikes, following Trump’s own warnings to the regime.
Last week, for example, Trump called on Iranian protesters to “take over your institutions” and suggested the US was prepared to take strong action against the regime.
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” he posted on social media. “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have canceled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA [Make Iran Great Again]!!!”
Protests erupted in Iran on Dec. 28 over economic hardships but quickly swelled into nationwide demonstrations calling for the downfall of the country’s Islamist, authoritarian system.
The Iranian government has responded with force in an effort to crush the unrest.
The US-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran has confirmed 4,029 deaths during the protests, while the number of fatalities under review stands at 9,049. Additionally, at least 5,811 people have been injured, and the total number of arrests stands at 26,015.
Iranian officials have put the death toll at 5,000 while some reports indicate the figure could be much higher. The Sunday Times, for example, obtained a new report from doctors on the ground, which states that at least 16,500 protesters have died and 330,000 have been injured.
The exact numbers are difficult to verify, as the regime has imposed an internet blackout across the country while imposing its crackdown.
Trump recently called for an end to Khamenei’s 37-year reign.
“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump told Politico in an interview published on Saturday.
“The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people,” Trump said. “His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”