“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.” — Leviticus 23: 24-25 (KJV)
Jeffrey Hoffman
With these words, the Lord instituted the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the new year and the beginning of the ten holiest days in the Jewish calendar. Today is Rosh Hashanah 5773 in the Jewish calendar. Across the world today, Jews have heard the Shofar sounded in their worship places. This ancient trumpet made from a ram’s horn announces the holiday and calls the people to introspection and repentance in preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the day when the tradition teaches that God will write the names of all those who will live for another year into the Book of Life.
It is a happy coincidence that today also marks a beginning for BJUnity. We are introducing a new format and a new publication schedule today to mark the beginning of the new academic year now upon us.
Beginning today, every Monday we will be publishing a story or a part of a story from one of our people who publicly identifies as LGBTQQI or Straight Affirming. By so doing, we put faces and names with people who have been shunned and shamed by Bob Jones University or other fundamentalist institutions for who they are. By so doing, we give others new hope that they are not alone. Today, Dean Stalnaker speaks of his lonely struggle — a long journey to self-acceptance and authenticity.
On Wednesday, we will introduce our weekly news and views section, wherein issues of relevance to LGBT+ people’s lives will be discussed, often from the unique perspective of former fundamentalists. Justin VanLeeuwen will introduce this section of our site with the first in a four-part series of informative and well-researched articles about marriage equality in twenty-first century America, and why this is such an important struggle to many LGBT+ people. You will want to read what he has to say.
On Friday, we will introduce (or perhaps reintroduce) our section where issues of faith and gender or sexual identity are discussed. I will be speaking this week about sin. I hope you’ll visit us again on Friday and read what I have to say.
The ancient holiday of Rosh Hashanah provides some beautiful symbolism I cannot help but find applicable to the work of BJUnity, as well. The customs of the Rosh Hashanah holiday include emptying one’s pockets into a river. Many Jews fill their pockets with bread crumbs, symbolizing sins, and cast them into the river on this day.
As the shofar has sounded its call to repentance worldwide, likewise we at BJUnity have issued a call to repentance to our fundamentalist families and friends in the form of our petition for an apology for publicly violent rhetoric spoken against us and for the cruel mistreatment so many of us have endured. This coming weekend, I will be in Upstate South Carolina sharing that call with those who witness the Upstate Pride SC march as we did here in New York City this past June. If you live in the area, please join us.
Another custom of Rosh Hashanah is to eat apples dipped in honey to symbolize a prayer and a desire for a sweet year to come. We hope and pray for a sweet year of new understanding and change among our fundamentalist families and friends. Together, we can bless our world by walking together in unity as beloved children of God.
On behalf of the entire editorial staff and the board of BJUnity, I wish you l’shana tovah for a good year.
Jeffrey Hoffman
Executive Director
BJUnity