The Church of the Holy Apostles on Ninth Avenue and 28th Street, 1975

The Church of the Holy Apostles on Ninth Avenue and 28th Street, 1975

Through a Glass Darkly ...
New York's
Gay
Synagogue

Homosexuals are the pariahs of all
Western religions . . . nome more
so than Judaism. Yet, the Jewish
homosexual is a Jew, after all,
and on New York's lower West
Side he has found a place....in
a Protestant Church-to express
his faith without los-
ing bis identity.

Story and Photographs
By Carl Glassman

Candles flicker in a darkened
room of the Episcopal church. About
75 men sit motionless in folding
chairs, listening to slow, plaintive
cantonal strains from a tape recorder
in front of the room. Beside the
recorder a tall, bearded "spiritual
leader" sways slightly to the music,
mouthing the Hebrew words being
sung. Many in the room, here for the
first time, watch with curiosity as the
mood is set for a Sabbath evening
service. None is witnessing a service
quite like he remembers from his
Reform, Conservative or Orthodox
Jewish background. But it is the
congregation more than the ritual
that makes this service different.
Everyone in the room is homosexual.

It is known simply as the Gay Synagogue.
Its name is Beth Simchat
Torah. This congregation and another
in Los Angeles comprise the
only two gay synagogues in the U.S.
Every Friday night since February
1973 homosexual Jews have gathered
in an annex ot the Church of the
Holy Apostle on the lower west side
of Manhattan.

A few minutes before 8 each Friday
night visitors appear at the door,
wonder if this is the right place and
are greeted by some of the 40 or so
regular congregants with a smile and
a handshake. In a turnout of 80, often
half will be newcomers and many
of them will never come back. Others
will reappear sporadically.

Curiosity
Most of the visitors come out of
curiosity. Theey become part of a
service that has, as one congregant
put it, "married all the different
Jewish tradltions." Everyone wears a

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL 43