Bet Michpachah – The Gay & Lesbian Synagogue of Washington D.C. (1990)

Pictured is the title to the newsletter on the top of the first page. BET MISHPACHAH is written in bold letters with a Star of David with flaglike shapes pointing to the left of each point on the left of the main text. It shares a subheading of THE GAY & LESBIAN SYNAGOGUE OF WASHINGTON, D.C. Two lines below these headings create a small banner that says January 1990 on the left side and TEVET/SHEVAT 5750 on the right.

In the USM Special Collections, there is held a time capsule of LGBTQ+ history. Housed in the Susan Hasalo Sojourner Collection, a monthly-issued newsletter from Bet Mishpachah is found. The issue is simplistic and bears the Star of David on the top left corner. It is from January 1990 and holds a rich cultural history of AIDS, conflicts, politics, and community.

For context, Bet Mishpachah was founded in 1975 in Washington D.C. and is self-described as a "congregation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and asexual Jews." At the time of this issue, services were held in the basement of the Christ United Methodist Church, but today it is housed in the Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center.

The first page of this issue contains headlines and subheadings nearly all relating to a question plaguing the congregation. The question was whether the congregation had grown large enough to warrant the hiring of a rabbi. According to this paper, the congregation had grown over 25% (although it has had no proportional increase in volunteers) and members had begun to request more programs and services from the synagogue. Although it has tried to provide for these demands, the volunteers and leadership of the church had been stretched to their limits. This led to the creation of the Rabbinic Services Ad Hoc Committee to meet and create pertinent questions for the fellowship to decide and vote upon. The first meeting to discuss these issues and questions was to be held the following month on February 2 after Shabbat services. Today, Rabbi Jake Singer-Beilin serves as the rabbi with many others in the role over the years.

The second page of the issue includes an itinerary of an upcoming Sunday outing to see the musical Merrily We Roll Along and two interesting articles of relative currentness. One refers to an Israeli lawyer who was scheduled to speak about a recent case against an airline and other matters of Israeli civil rights. The case in question is El-Al Israel Airlines v. Danielowitz. The subject of the lawsuit concerns the issuing of free tickets to employees. El-Al gives all permanent employees a free airplane ticket for both them and their spouse (or publicly recognized spouse) every year. When Danielowitz asked for a ticket for his long-time male partner, his request was denied. The eventual outcome of the case came on November 30, 1994, and the ruling was that the refusal for the ticket was discrimination, on the grounds that a distinction "on the basis of the difference between a heterosexual and a homosexual relationship is unjustified in the context of employee benefits." The other major section on this page is an open letter to the congregation from the newly appointed president - Beth Cohen. It reports on a sermon given on Kol Nidrei at one of Washington's larger Reform congregations and focused on homosexuality. Overall, the sermon was well-received and has opened a conversation between the Board of Bet Mishpachah and the Social Action Committee at Temple Sinai about the obstacles faced by gay and lesbian Jews within the Jewish community.

The third page includes an itinerary of upcoming events, in addition to an article. The article is a letter to the D.C. City Council Chairman David A. Clarke from President Beth Cohen on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Congregation of Bet Mishpachah. The letter was written in response to the D.C. City Council's proclamation in praise of Louis Farrakhan, which deeply objects to this honor's bestowment. Louis Farrakhan is a controversial African American religious leader. The protégé of Malcolm X, Farrakhan has been the leader of the Nation of Islam since 1978. In his time in the spotlight, he has had many controversies including praising Adolf Hitler on national television, anti-Semitic statements as recently as 2018, and espousals of various anti-Semitic and homophobic conspiracy theories. This letter states that such a man as Farrakhan who preaches hate and violence towards both "Jews and Gays" receiving this award shows a severe lack of awareness and sensitivity on the part of the Council. This recognition was given due to Farrakhan's organization's efforts to clean up drug problems in a local neighborhood. Although the Council did state that the recognition was not an endorsement of this organization, the Board takes issue with this statement which was awarded for the good things done by the organization without consideration of the complete actions of the group.

The fourth page features a calendar of upcoming events and services.

The fifth page of the newsletter includes a directory of various important members, councils, and groups within and in collaboration with the synagogue and the local LGBTQ+ community. It also includes an interesting and telling outreach to the community. It pleads with the congregation to let the synagogue support them during their great times of need, such as hospital visits, loses, or illness. "We feel that one of the most important functions of our synagogue is to provide the support and comfort our members need during a difficult time. Given the timing and present audience of Bet Mishpachah, it is almost certain that this outreach was due to the AIDS crisis and its ravaging of local populations, particularly those in the LGBTQ+ community.

The final page serves as a solemn reminder of the AIDs crisis. A headline and paragraph are dedicated to the fact that the AIDS Memorial Quilt was on display that weekend. The article reflects on the painful reminder and remembrance that the quilt evokes and encourages people to reach out to the family, friends, and Bet Mishpachah for support. The AIDS Memorial Quilt (commonly known as the AIDS Quilt) is well-known as the 'largest community art project in history." It documents the lives and stories of those lost to HIV and AIDS and today holds over 50,000 panels and weighs 54 tons. The first panel was created by Cleve Jones in June 1987 in memory of Marvin Feldman, and panels are still being added to this day. This article also serves as a homecoming marker for the quilt, as it was first displayed in Washington, D.C. in 1987 with only 1,920 panels.

This item is available in the Susan Hasalo Sojourner Collection (M539). If you would like to look at the item or the collection, visit Special Collections in McCain Library & Archives room 305. The library is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you have questions about the collection, contact Lorraine Stuart at .

The Item of the Month was written in 2024 by Theo Eubanks, a sophomore history and library science major.

**Items of the Month featured from 2024 – 2026 will be the work of Southern Miss students who took HON 303, a seminar held in Fall 2024 focusing on archives and special collections.