Midrash & Mayhem - Well, June-hem

Queer folk were left out of the stories of our people for so long, and now, in this time, we are telling ourselves back again. For the last 20 years, Maggid Elias Ramer has been doing this as a writer of midrashim — interpretive stories that shift, change and retell concepts found in the Torah and Tanach. In an engaging virtual session, Elias Ramer will read some of his queer Jewish tales and lead a conversation on the power of midrash as a tool for transformation. He will open our eyes to the  queer stories we still need to tell, which will enrich and enliven our tradition for queer Jews and queer folk in every community. 

Ordained in 2012, Maggid Elias Ramer, who writes under the name Andrew Ramer, is the author of four collections of midrashim: Queering the Text: Biblical, Medieval, and Modern Jewish Stories, Torah Told Different, Deathless and Fragments of the Brooklyn Talmud. Many of his prayers appear in the inclusive siddur of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco. Born in Elmhurst, NY, across the street from an amusement park called Fairyland, he now lives in Oakland up the street from an amusement park called Fairyland.