• For You Are With Me

  by Josh Lancman

  “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” –Psalm 23 Names have been changed. Nestled in the Conservative Jewish part of northeastern Pennsylvania, Camp R in the Poconos is a place many of us who have passed through its wooden bunks call home.

• Questioning Israel’s Policies Does Not Make Me Anti-Semitic

  by Anonymous

  My dad is Israeli and lived in Israel for more than 25 years. My mom moved to Israel from the Soviet Union in 1990 when she was only 18. She had also lived in a small town in Serbia, a country where anti-Semitism was rampant.

• If Allah Loves Everyone, Doesn’t He Love Gay People?

  by Anonymous

  Names have been changed. My mother is a devout Muslim from Ethiopia, and when I was 5, she briefly sent my older brother and me to after school Quran classes. I remember feeling that I did not belong, and learning about Quran history and writing in Arabic did not interest me.

• It’s More Than a Game

  by Kevin Louie

  It was ideal New York weather to play basketball: a sunny, spring day. About a dozen of my friends and I had just finished school. When we got to the courts, we divided up and started playing, subbing in and out until we got tired.

• Alone Then Not Alone

  by J.S.

  I was 12 when I first realized I was attracted to boys. I come from a strict, religious Sikh family, and I could not reveal these feelings to my parents. So I had a private notebook that I wrote and drew in.

• God Guided Me From West Africa to America

  by Anonymous

  Names have been changed. Converting to Christianity put my life in danger, but it also helped guide me to safety. I grew up in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, in West Africa. My mom died when I was 7, and after that I lived with my dad, my two brothers, and then my stepmother.