Newspaper Article

Dance Dance Evolution

Goodman, Elyssa

2013

Overview

[Jayson Littman] and He'bro have occasionally come under fire for taking Judaism too lightly, for marking religious holidays with raucous parties. \"My hope is that He'bro can be a gateway drug,\" said Jay Michaelson, founder of the LGBT Jewish group Nehirim (and a Forward contributing editor). \"Hopefully, some percentage of the Jews and bagel chasers [non-Jewish men who are interested in Jews] who come to He'bro will take a further step on their journeys, maybe checking out some Jewish learning, or getting involved politically, or visiting Nehirim or one of the other LGBT Jewish organizations that offer more substantive forms of engagement.\" [Brian Delshad], 27, works in real estate development and was raised in the Conservative tradition. His parents used to warn him against showing his Judaism too strongly, for fear of the social consequences they experienced being Persian Jews in a largely Muslim culture. For Delshad, hiding his Jewish identity was akin to hiding the fact that he was gay, which he did until he came out at age 19. \"Now it's like, oh wait, both these two things - I mean, maybe it's because we're in New York City, I don't know - but they're both turning out to be pluses. There's community involved behind being Jewish, there's community involved behind being gay . . . it's seen as a good thing. I feel very lucky in my adult life to have experienced that,\" he said. \"I constantly will come across guys who are like: 'Oh, my God, you're Jewish. That's awesome. You guys make good husbands.'\" Delshad laughingly calls these men \"bagel chasers,\" a term coined by Littman. Like Littman, Delshad found that coming out pushed his Jewish identity to the background for a while. After he came out, he focused on forming an identity and on finding a place in New York City's gay community. \"If I didn't have such a strong Conservative and yeshiva background, I might have forgotten [my Jewish roots]\" he said. \"So Jayson's there to remind you, 'Hey, you can do both!\" While you're trying to figure yourself out, why don't you come over to a He'bro party? Discover it all at one time, you know?\"

• Publisher: The Forward Association, Inc
• Subject: Gays & lesbians / Gender identity / Jewish organizations / Jewish people / Judaism / Littman, Jayson