How you can get involved with us

You are invited to take part in a series of SHORT FILMS that will be used to increase knowledge and share information about LGBTQI Jewish ritual life.

You are also invited to create your own BRICOLAGE. In other words, you will undertake the curation of individual, personally meaningful ritual objects (e.g a kippot or tallit; photographs; discussions about how items such as a kiddush cup or candlesticks or even objects not ‘obviously’ Jewishly meaningful). These objects are incorporated into personal ritual which combines LGBTQI and Jewish identity. You will have the opportunity to work with a narrative story-teller to explore how these items came into your life and ritual world; with material (images, oral testimony and written materials) which emerge from this element of the project being uploaded onto a web-portal at a later stage to allow viewers to consider the nature of personal ritual meaning and how LGBTQI faith community members can recreate ‘new’ meaningful rituals.

You will also be offered the chance to take part in focus groups as well as a final seminar in which you present your personal story of ritual and the ritual/important objects collated above, for an audience of LGBTQI (and allies) from Jewish and other faith communities. You can opt to take part in one or other element of the project although we’d obviously be delighted if you participated in both parts.

For part a) you will be filmed or have your voice recorded re-enacting or talk about a ritual which has meaning for you and is important in your life. For example, how you perform kavod shabbat in a way which honours your multiple identities, or the creation of ritual pertaining to a same-sex chuppah. Filming will take place at an appropriate location e.g. in your home or a community space (for example, with permission at a community chavurah). The film crew will be led by Searle Kochberg (a filmmaker & academic) and will include a carefully selected, and experienced student crew from the University of Portsmouth.

Anyone who is over 18, lives in or near to London or Portsmouth and identifies as Jewish and LGBTQI can get involved. Allies who are actively engaged in the UK’s LGBTQI and/or Jewish community can also participate. All participation is voluntarily.

You can find out more by reading the Ritual Reconstructed Participant-Information Sheet.