Your Host

is a typical gay Sephardic LeatherJew living in New York City.

In the Leather Scene, I've been involved for over 15 years, during which time I've belonged to a variety of organizations, including GMSMA, Hot Ash, Masters And slaves Together, FFA/CAC, etc. I have enjoyed IML and especially Inferno, but must admit that MAL (Mid-Atlantic Leather weekend) is my favorite annual event.

My involvement with the Jewish community includes an active volunteer role in lesbian and gay programming of the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. I attend several synagogues more-or-less regularly. The one I belong to is Orthodox, but I am also a regular at the monthly traditional Shabbat morning minyan of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, the LGBT synagogue. My Jewish studies began in Israel and continued at a Conservative seminary, I do not personally identify with any particular movement.

My career is in nonprofit management, and I have a Masters degree in Public Administration. I currently work for a major non-profit organization where my work in strategic planning, contract management, and budgeting helps to provide shelter and social services to homeless women and children.

Among my hobbies is translating Jewish liturgy. For Passover 2000, I completed what I think is the only gender-neutral English translation of the traditional Sephardic Haggada. I also collect vintage postcards of Grant's Tomb.

My reading list includes lots of murder mysteries (Nero Wolfe, Reginald Hill, Sue Grafton, Patricia Wentworth, Minette Walters, Mary Russel, among others) and a fair amount of science fiction (love those classics, A.E. van Vogt, Asimov, etc., but also Anne MacCaffrey and M.Z. Bradley). In the past year or so I've also read: The Masorah of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Kelley, Mynatt, & Crawford); The Sub Loco Notes in the Torah of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Mynatt); A Simplified Guide to BHS: Critical Apparatus, Masora, Accents, Unusual Letters & Other Markings (Scott); A Primer of Biblical Greek (Croy); Akkadian Grammer (Ungnad, Matous, Hoffner); Beginner's Assyrian (Lyon); Introduction to the Tiberian Masorah (Yeivin, Revell); Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence (Cross & Freedman); Studies in Early Yahwistic Poetry (Cross & Freedman); Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel (Cross). My current reading includes: Leviticus 23-27: A New Translation with Introduction & Commentary (Milgrom); Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions (de Vaux); The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction (Gottwald); A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew and Some Other Syntactical Questions (Driver); Ugaritic Narrative Poetry (Parker); Introduction to Syriac (Thackston).

Favorite TV shows: “Star Trek” (all of them), “Any Day Now”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “V.I.P.”, “Stargate SG1”.

Want to chat? Email me at LeatherJew@aol.com