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Asher Gellis

Asher Gellis is Executive Director of JQ International. Prior to joining JQ, Asher was the Regional Director of Hadassah Zionist Youth Commission's Young Judea programs for California, Nevada and Hawaii, responsible for the staff and volunteers that served the adolescent to young adult demographic with informal education based programs and services. He served as Director of Health and Well-being, supervising and training staff in Israel for thousands of American students on tour in Europe and Asia. Asher earned his BA in Political Science from UCLA and his MBA with an emphasis in leadership from Pepperdine University.

Words of Terror in the Torah

Asher Gellis, Anthony Rogers-Wright

Identity and Responsibility, Text and Thought

There can be no doubt that certain passages and indeed full parshas of the Torah of caused some in our respective congregations to recoil in horror. This is specifically true of those members of our congregations that identify themselves as LGBT, Jews of Color, and women. In this session, we will explore those passages and parshas in the literal context, apply these texts to a modern context with the overall hope of moving from literalism to interpretation to tolerance.

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