History made for Jewish GLBTI in Melbourne aka 35 years on - a bat mitzvah
Many years ago, I created the saying that something is truly powerful and comes from ones soul when a person feels like they floating on clouds while simultaneously having the strength to body-slam Andre the Giant.
Last night was one of those powerful moments.
This story starts way back in October 1978, when I was bah-mitzvahed at Temple Beth Israel in Alma Road, St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. Obviously, back then, I didn’t know what I know about myself now. I knew at that point there was “something going on re gender†but couldn’t explain or understand it. I remember being very nervous that day and someone going off to get peppermint tic-tacs. I remember Rabbi John Levi pulling a pocket compass out and saying that I would find my direction in life. And I remember the party in our back yard and that the weather was a perfect 25C for a week for the visiting relatives from England, Texas and elsewhere.