They were accompanied by four fellow members of San Francisco’s Reform Congregation Sha’ar Zahav who were holding up the poles of a chuppah, the traditional Jewish wedding canopy. The canopy itself was a rainbow flag, and each pole was decorated with purple ribbons.
“The combination of the chuppah, which stands out as a really Jewish image, and the gay image of two people in drag was beautiful,” said Sha’ar Zahav program director Dahlia Gross, who organized the congregation’s group. “It was festive and that’s what pride is.”
In an interview this week, Gross recalled that during the parade, she could hear Jews in the crowd of an estimated half-million people singing along with the Israeli folk songs as the wedding scene made its way down Market Street. The contingent from Sha’ar Zahav generated excitement by dancing the hora around the bride and groom.
Along with Sha’ar Zahav — a mainstay in the parade — four other groups were in the Jewish contingent at the celebration. Two of those, Reform Temple Sinai in Oakland and San Francisco Conservative Congregation B’nai Emunah, were participating for the first time this year. Also represented were Jewish Family and Children’s Services and Conservative Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco.
Each group had a banner with inclusive phrases such as “Jewish Family and Children’s Services: serving all members of your family since 1850.” Sha’ar Zahav brought a variety of posters, some of them reading “Oy vey iz mir, my bubbe knows I’m queer.”
Members of the Temple Sinai group wore synagogue banners around their necks and sang and danced with Sha’ar Zahav.
For Temple Sinai Rabbi Andrea Fisher, the parade was a new experience; she moved to the Bay Area from Cincinnati last summer.
“I was not sure what the response would be to us because we were a Jewish group marching so soon after what happened in Sacramento,” Fisher said, referring to the recent synagogue burnings. “But everyone was cheering, and I felt proud of our synagogue and of the Conservative synagogues that were there.”
The Conservative Jews from B’nai Emunah included seniors, a family with children and single adults, according to Frank Kurtz, who organized the congregation’s participation. The B’nai Emunah group carried the synagogue’s banner with the tag line “traditional Judaism without the barriers.”
“We had a nice cross-section of folks at the parade,” said Kurtz, who marched with his wife. “For a long time there have been gays in the congregation and in leadership positions. Sexual orientation is not an issue as far as participation in the congregation is concerned, and we were there to support gays and lesbians in the Jewish community.”
Kurtz, who served on the regional board of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism last year, noted that gay Jews in the Bay Area have full support from the local Conservative movement.
As for his involvement in the parade, Kurtz said that he was spurred to organize B’nai Emunah’s group by Kenny Altman, coordinator of the Gay and Lesbian Chavurah/Outreach program at Beth Sholom.
Altman, an openly gay Conservative Jew and a vice president of his congregation’s board, e-mailed about 10 Conservative synagogues in Northern California, inviting them to attend the parade. Of the 10, only B’nai Emunah wound up joining the celebration.
“I would like to see more Conservative synagogues network with each other as far as outreach is concerned,” Altman said in an interview this week. “Most Conservative synagogues are gay-friendly but they have to come out and make a statement because it is not always a given that gays are accepted.”
Altman said he plans to step up his efforts next year, sending formal written invitations and following them up with phone calls.
Temple Sinai’s Fisher also has some ideas to expand her congregation’s involvement in next year’s pride celebrations.
“I would like to do a text study in the morning to explore the issues of where it’s been difficult for gays in the past and what Reform Jews can do today,” she said. “I would also like to bring a shofar and a radio so we don’t have to lose our voices and still be loud and festive.”