Middle School Students Participate in Annual Harvey Milk Memorial Tefillah

In commemoration of Harvey Milk Day, on Monday morning middle school students and faculty participated in Brandeis's 4th annual Harvey Milk Memorial Tefillah. Gene Goldstein-Plesser of the Jewish LGBT organization Keshet joined and shared with our students Harvey Milk's impact on the LGBT community, and also discussed Milk's identities as both a gay man and a Jew. "It was a very different time then, and the city was a very different place," Mr. Goldstein-Plesser said. "What Harvey was able to do by living his authentic self as a gay man and as a Jew brought hope." 

Teachers then read prayers from the LGBT-inclusive siddur created by Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, and teachers Abbe Wainwright and Rabbi Camille Angel recounted personal memories about Harvey Milk and his profound impact on the San Francisco gay liberation movement. 

"As a school that has as our core values integrity, kindness, and service," says Director of Middle School Dr. Sivan Tarle, "we have a responsbility to recognize, remember, and educate our community about who Harvey Milk was and what he stood for, and partnering with Keshet is one way we are able to do that." MORE PHOTOS