At a Friday night service, members of Congregation Beth Emeth sang the Kabbalat Shabbat staple “Lecha Dodi” to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”

June 26 was no ordinary Shabbat — it was a special service and dinner emphasizing love, acceptance and Pride.

Sarah Moldover, a musician and recent college graduate, co-led the service with her guitar, a rainbow bandana on her head.

“The point of the whole Pride Shabbat is to show that queer Jews have a place in Judaism and in our synagogue,” Moldover said. “Most of the service is your basic Friday night service, but we’ve thrown in a couple of tunes from queer artists and things like that.”

Gwen Sloan, a religious school teacher, took the lead at Friday night’s service as Rabbi Warner Ferratier was on vacation.

Congregants took turns coming up to the bimah and reciting readings from a book of Jewish Pride prayers, including Birkat Hodesh Ga’avah — a blessing for Pride month by Rabbi Lily Solochek — and “Twilight People” by Rabbi Reuben Zellman.

The latter prayer draws on the symbolism of twilight as a sacred “in-between” space that’s not easily labeled or defined.

Donna Paley, the event chair, was instrumental in getting Pride Shabbat established in June 2025. This most recent Shabbat is Beth Emeth’s second formal Pride Shabbat.

As she ascended the bimah, Paley said that while she’s not a member of the LGBTQ+ community, her son is: “He’s taught me so much about love and respect.”

During the service, Paley gave the D’var Torah.

“Back in the 1980s when I was growing up, I didn’t know any openly gay people. I knew plenty of gay people, but they did not typically talk about that part of their lives,” she recalled. “The people in power said so many hateful and cruel things about lesbians, gay men and transgender people. My gay friends stayed as closeted and quiet as possible.”

Gay and bisexual men died at “alarming rates” from AIDS, Paley said.

“To be openly gay or lesbian was not the norm,” she added. “The norm was that LGBTQ+ people did not exist … Today, we live in a world where LGBTQ people are still told they don’t exist.”

Paley tied Parashat Balak to the current climate for LGBTQ+ Americans.

“LGBTQ people have been told that they must fit into preexisting boxes, and that those boxes were built the moment they were born. They’re told they’re evil or they don’t know who they are,” she said. “Sometimes it feels like the bad guys are all around us, waiting to curse us and trying to compel others to work against us.”

In Parashat Balak, the pagan prophet Balaam’s journey is intercepted by an angel who is only visible to Balaam’s donkey. The prophet beats his donkey three times for veering off course, but later realizes the animal saved his life.

“I feel like Balaam’s donkey tonight. I may be crouched down, beaten, but I see angels among us,” Paley said. “Angels are real and they exist.”

The service concluded with a trio performance of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” with Gary Smith on the flute and Moldover and preschool director Fran Besalel singing.

The Shabbat service was followed by kiddush and a catered chicken marsala dinner from Sunflower Bakery sponsored by Beth Emeth members Ita and Mark Mandel in honor of their son and his husband.

Paley spoke to the importance of acknowledging and embracing LGBTQ+ members of the Beth Emeth community. She added that LGBTQ+ Jewish youth who don’t feel represented within their communities often “grow up and take off” from organized Jewish life.

“We want them to feel like this is home,” Paley said. “It’s important.”

“I know that in other religions, people struggle with their sexual orientation and their gender identity and how it conflicts with their religion. In Judaism, that’s not an issue,” she said.

The Beth Emeth community prides itself on being a welcoming space for LGBTQ+ congregants.

“I see that it was very important for [Paley] to be able to invite a lot of queer people and queer allies in the service, and especially younger people, as a way to help show that this is something that we’re passionate about at CBE, showing that people belong here,” Moldover said.

One wall of the Herndon synagogue’s social hall features Beth Emeth’s LGBTQ+ congregants smiling with their family and friends. Moldover’s mother and Paley, along with a handful of other women, launched a banned books club together.

“A lot of them are also mothers of queer children and are very much LGBT allies,” Moldover said.

Diane Lowenthal, the president of Beth Emeth, said she’s been an ally her entire life.

“As a Jewish community, we should be supporting people whoever they are and whatever they believe,” Lowenthal said. “So yes, it’s important to me that my congregation supports the LGBTQ community and that we have welcoming events like Pride Shabbat and I hope we continue to do it every year.”

zbell@midatlanticmedia.com