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Miryam Kabakov

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miryam Kabakov
Personal
Born1964 (age 59–60)
ReligionJudaism
Alma mater
PositionExecutive Director
OrganisationEshel
Began2012

Miryam Kabakov (born 1964)[2] is an American Jewish social worker and community organizer. She is the Executive Director of Eshel, a national organization that supports and advocates for LGBTQ+ Orthodox Jews.[1][3]

Among other positions, Kabakov has served as director of the Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival,[4] as National Program Director of AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, and as a social worker at Footsteps.[1][3] She also founded a support group for lesbian, bisexual and transgender Orthodox women in New York.

She was the editor of the 2010 anthology Keep Your Wives Away From Them: Orthodox Women, Unorthodox Desires, consisting of 14 essays by LGBTQ+ Orthodox women, which was named best anthology of 2011 by the Golden Crown Literary Society.[2] She was inspired by the book Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence, which was edited by Rosemary Curb and Nancy Manahan and published by Naiad Press in 1985. She wondered why there wasn't a similar book for Orthodox women.[4][5]

In 2019, she was one of the first grant recipients of the Jewish Women's Foundation of New York's The Collective project, which supports Jewish women social entrepreneurs.[6]

Personal life

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Kabakov lives with her partner Mara Benjamin and two children in St. Paul, Minnesota.[5][7] She identifies as "post-modern Orthodox" and attends a Conservative congregation.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Miryam Kabakov". Jewish Women's Foundation of New York.
  2. ^ a b Fishkoff, Sue (November 11, 2011). "Observant and lesbian: Anthology explores merging identities". JWeekly.
  3. ^ a b "Our Team". Eshel Online.
  4. ^ a b Gustin, Marene (1 December 2010). "Keep Your Wives Away from Them". OutSmart Magazine.
  5. ^ a b c Nussbaum Cohen, Debra (June 10, 2010). "Q&A With Miryam Kabakov: Editor of Anthology on Orthodox Lesbians". The Forward.
  6. ^ Cohen, Debra Nussbaum (June 6, 2019). "After Shifting its Strategy, a Foundation Gets Behind Jewish Women Social Entrepreneurs". Inside Philanthropy.
  7. ^ "Miryam Kabakov, Author at My Jewish Learning". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved April 12, 2021.