The Rainbow Lighthouse
Written by Jeremy - Arizona, USA
The biggest religious gift I ever received was the privilege to be given no set religion. My mom, a Catholic, and my dad, a Jew, agreed to raise me without a religious upbringing, calling me a Cashew as a joke. When I came out as gay at the end of middle school, my relationship with the world shifted upside down; I had no idea who I was, only a fog of confusion. Without any religion, I began to build a lighthouse: my set of religious beliefs to clear the fog in the years ahead. When it finally shined a light after many years of contemplation, I finally found why Mom and Dad wanted me to find my religion: a rainbow appeared through the light. Just like the rainbow that G-d gave Noah, I found my own rainbow; a connection to my people as a Jew and my people as a queer. Finding my faith allowed me to connect with my history and friends on a deeper level, and find meaning in my uniqueness.
Growing up, I always had a connection to my Jewish identity: the ethnicity and the religious ideas. With the rise of antisemitism worldwide and my struggles with self-acceptance, I relate more than ever to the struggles my people, Jews and queers, have overcome. This is why I love the story of Passover. Last year, I went to my best friend’s Passover seder. On their seder table laid an orange to represent LGBTQ+ inclusion in Judaism. With this orange, I felt a connection to G-d and the history of Passover. I realized that the struggles that queers have faced fighting for rights are no different from the fight that Jews have for equal treatment. At that moment, I felt proud to be a gay Jew. I felt that being gay complemented my Jewishness; a rainbow gift from G-d, knowing I would overcome any struggle thrown at me, and have the chance to grow from it. Being Jewish is to look out for one another, and to progress together, and that holds true especially for the diversity of this tight-knit community.
In my senior year of high school, I took a humanities class that would change my perception of the world. From day one, we discuss different philosophies, religions, and ideas that have shaped our culture. This was the first time I read scripture from the Bible, analyzed religious artwork, and pondered my relationship with the world. And I loved it. I was analyzing the world from different viewpoints. I got to have discussions about faith with my friends. I realized after seventeen years why Mom and Dad did not raise me religiously: they wanted me to find my ideas, and to do it independently. In this journey, I found so much love in religion, learning love will always win.
One of my favorite ideas I have learned is about Neoplatonism in the Renaissance, which I connect in a broader sense because of rediscovery during this time. A branch of Humanism, Neoplatonism examines the idea that beauty is a manifestation of the divine, and works of human art manifest the divine. I apply this idea to the fact that we are G-d’s creation, and we are beautiful and perfect. Therefore, being queer is being beautiful, and a manifestation of the divine. As I build my lighthouse, I include all the ways I am unique and beautiful, the way G-d intends me to be: perfect, just the way I am.
