Three Young Jewish LGBTQ Leaders receive Keshet Hacham Lev Award

Keshet has announced the names of three young Jewish LGBTQ leaders who are the recipients of the Hacham Lev Award.

Keshet’s Hacham Lev Award recognizes individuals who embody hacham lev, the concept from the Torah that difficult, holy work requires both skill and spirit, head and heart. Each of these honorees has participated in Keshet’s LGBTQ & Ally Teen Shabbatonim (weekend leadership development and community building retreats) and gone on to assume a highly visible leadership position in the Jewish community. The recipients are:

Alyx Bernstein, 17, is a peer leader in the Keshet LGBTQ and Ally Teen community and the first openly trans girl to serve on the editorial board of the groundbreaking JGirls Magazine. She is a senior at Solomon Schechter School of Westchester.

Bennett Decker, 20, co-facilitates Keshet LGBTQ and Ally Teen Shabbatonim as a Keshet College Fellow. This spring, he became a member of Keshet’s Board of Directors, the youngest person in Keshet’s history to do so. He is a junior in the joint program between Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Sawyer Goldsmith, 17, is a peer leader in the Keshet LGBTQ and Ally Teen community and the first openly trans person to be elected to the international board of USY, the youth movement of the Conservative Movement, where he serves as Religious Education Vice President. Goldsmith is a senior at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School in Highland Park, Illinois.