Queer lives and religion are not always happy bed-fellows and we don’t often hear about religious queer people. A new seven-part documentary web series, The Holy Closet, seeks to address that. Director Moran Nakar follows seven different religious queer Jewish households, examining their loves, lives, hopes and dreams as they navigate a path through their Jewish religion and queerdom. The resulting films are modern, warm-hearted, gentle, and thought-provoking, casting aside any existing bias, unconscious or otherwise, that the viewer may have held.
Each episode focuses on a different character, couple, or family, and we follow them through one of their significant life events – a birthday, wedding, pregnancy, baby’s circumcision, and so on.
We first meet young teenage Yeshiva (Orthodox Jewish college) students Omri and Daniel. Hand in hand, one with a rainbow-striped kippah (traditional head covering), and both holding prayer sessions on smartphones, they embody modern religious queer lives. “Burn your evil inclination on the altar.” said one rabbi to them, but these sweet guys don’t care about what others think as they live their best lives, avoiding politics as much as possible. Their lusts, hopes and dreams are the same as any other 19-year-old.
Then we meet the thirty-something lesbian couple Hili and Reut. They already have four children and child number five is on the way. Theirs is a warm, joy-filled household as they prepare for Hanukkah (the Festival of Lights). They pray for an end to all wars. Not all their family members will attend their gatherings but they have reconciled their differences with those concerned and agree to disagree.
Next up we meet Liraz, a thirty-one-year-old trans man who is pregnant. He is a Sephardic Jew. They originate from the Spain/Portugal region. He wears the tefillin, a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, and discusses life with his Uncle Ronen and his mother, both of whom are very supportive of his pregnancy.
Bin-Nun, 31 and Aviel, 26 share their wedding preparations and day with us. The two handsome grooms get blessings from their family although some of their religious family members stay away from the wedding. The family works around it. For most family members, it’s just important that the two men remain religious and the day is a jolly event.
Adi, 30, and Shiran, 32, share their eight-day-old baby’s circumcision party. There is a debate in the build-up to the circumcision over the need to follow their religion whilst also considering the 
pain for the baby. They go ahead with the procedure and the crowded, happy family event is a sea of smartphones as the surgeon relays his progress with a microphone.
Eliq, 38, and Adam, 37 have three children and another busy household. They also have a lot to discuss as one of them is a strict Orthodox Jew and the other is non-religious (secular). They discuss the level of religious upbringing to impose on the children.
Finally, we meet Yael, 41, a divorced trans woman with three children. She’s in a lesbian relationship with Hadar, 29, who also has three children. Hadar hadn’t been in a relationship with a woman before, but the two women and their six children are very happy together as they prepare for a birthday party.
Nakar’s celebratory documentary is an important study in tolerance for everyone, including queer people, who are not immune to narrow-minded thinking. The breadth of participants in the series is impressive, and a reminder of how diverse the rainbow family is. What unites the cast is a relaxed open-mindedness as well as a focus on independent interpretation of religion and queerness. There is no one-size-fits-all in life, and it’s good to be reminded of that.
Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah
Labels: 2024, documentary, Moran Nakar, queer Jewish families, review, Ris Fatah, The Holy Closet
