"We are all twilight people": Jeremy Lentz

Jeremy Lentz shares his journey from a young boy nervously preparing for his bar mitzvah - to an out and proud gay man called upon to read “the twilight people”, at a pride Shabbat, in his reform temple. Jeremy is the Executive Director of the Teaneck International Film Festival, showcasing feature films, shorts, and documentaries that highlight a variety of cultural and social justice issues. Jeremy has spent the last 10 years involved in activism both within and outside the festival, fighting for our society to be more inclusive and accepting.   Learn more about Teaneck Film Festival: www.TeaneckFilmFestival.org https://instagram.com/teaneckfilmfestival?igshid=cm5j3pf2ggqc https://instagram.com/jnlentz?igshid=1aqlr7m546hkt www.facebook.com/teaneckfilmfestival/   Contact Jeremy Lentz: www.facebook.com/jeremy.lentz.18   Sink your teeth into..   www.instagram.org/theforbiddenapplepodcast [email protected]   “Twilight People (in place of Hashkiveinu, page 160) Rabbi Reuben Zellman” “As the sun sinks and the colors of the day turn, we offer a blessing for the twilight, for twilight is neither day nor night, but in-between. We are all twilight people. We can never be fully labeled or defined. We are many identities and loves, many genders and none. We are in between roles, at the intersection of histories, or between place and place. We are crisscrossed paths of memory and destination, streaks of light and swirled together. We are neither day nor night. We are both, neither, and all. May the sacred in-between of this evening suspend our certainties, soften our judgments, and widen our vision. May this in-between light illuminate our way to the God who transcends all categories and definitions. May the in-between people who have come to pray be lifted up into this twilight. We cannot always define; we can always say a blessing. Blessed are You, God of all, who brings on the twilight.”