In an interview, Rabbi Steve Greenberg spoke of Purim as a “Jewish National Coming Out Day.” Jericho Vincent, a rabbinical student who teaches classes in genderqueer Torah, explained that the story of Purim can be read as being “about passing, about allyship, about coming out of the closet.” “Everyone in the story, other than Vashti, is in drag,” said Greenberg, the founding director at Eshel, a support and advocacy organization for LGBTQ Orthodox Jews. “Everyone’s in the ‘closet,’ and at some point comes out.” Esther is able to “pass” as a Shushanite, and “keep her information private but also make sure that [she and Mordechai are] able to maintain their relationship,” Vincent, a former Pforzheimer Fellow at Harvard, said. Eventually, however, Esther is forced to “come out” to save her people. #NoMasks #JustPride #LoveIsLove #TzelemElohim #LGBTQ #BuildOnLove #comingout https://www.instagram.com/p/CLpOHPcr4Z0/?igshid=1dqisxzaomfj6
