Film: Unspoken

Film: Breaking Bread

Featuring Jeremy Borison By: Brooke Botwinick

Growing up in Los Angeles, CA, going to a high school where the norm was to ‘ stand out’ , and where the senior rabbi at my synagogue identifies as lesbian, I never had to think twice if it felt safe to express my identity. I am straight, consider myself to be a feminist, an ally for the LGBTQ+ community, and have many friends and some family members who are out. It’ s truly a gift and a blessing to be accepted; one that so many take for granted.

Jeremy Borison grew up in Cleveland, Ohio in an Orthodox Jewish home. His friends and family were always loving, caring, and supportive. However, up until going to college at University of Michigan, he remained closeted because there was no way for him to speak about his sexual identity. “What I was going through, and what I was curious and scared about, I had to go through alone. There wasn ’t a way to see a future for myself or know where to go. It was terrifying. ” He was able to come out as gay because he was away from his community. He built a life of his own and had a support system that he could rely on which eventually included his friends and family. Institutions have not changed. There are still so many synagogues, schools, and communities with little to no acceptance of difference. When Jeremy moved to Los Angeles he sought out a new synagogue and community. At Modern Orthodox synagogue B’ nai David Judea, he found a

‘home ’ , community, and space of acceptance and inclusion. In fact, Rabbi Kanefsky asked Jeremy to help create an LGBTQ+ inclusion policy!

Borison shared that one of the ways he advocates for the queer community in Orthodox Jewish spaces is by making his presence known. When he and his husband walk to shul, they consciously hold hands, otherwise there ’ s no representation or way for others to know they are together unless they make it clear. He expressed feeling a sense of discomfort even in LA because people stare. “Even if one kid sees us and feels there ' s a possibility of staying in the community and being their true self, then that would be really amazing. ” He has also spoken out, sharing his story with organizations such as JQ International and Eshel, expressing that what others are experiencing with gender and/or sexual identity doesn 't have to be scary, but what they are creating might feel uncomfortable to others.

Jeremy is a part of JQ Magazine ’ s spotlight because of the incredible work he has done and continues to do for the LGBTQ+ community. He is currently working on a film, Unspoken. Unspoken is based on another short film Borison created, a true story about a friend whose grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. When her grandma passed away, the family found a marriage certificate with another man ' s name who she had kept a secret. Borison ’ s friend is gay and never told her grandmother. The film examines what might have happened if she had come forward and shared her sexual identity with her grandma, whether her grandma would have done the same with her secret. The story ’ s premise exemplifies the relationship between secrets held during the holocaust to how coming out as gay today is acknowledged. Jeremy was questioned about queer persecution during the holocaust after his first film was made. It got him thinking about the silencing of queer stories in the religious community. “Unspoken follows the story of Noam, a closeted teenager in a religious community who discovers that he might not be alone. When he finds a love letter written to his grandfather by another man before the Holocaust, he sets out to find this mysterious person and uncover his grandfather ' s identity as well as his own. ” The film is called Unspoken because it’ s taboo, it’ s something we don ’t talk about. “The idea is to allow the audience to see the experience of a closeted kid in a religious community and empathize with the struggle they are going through. ” A film like this is the first of its kind. It paints a picture and enmeshes the past with the present.