LGBTQIA+ LEGACY VIDEOS

Rabbi Allen Bennett was born Allen Blumenstein in 1946 in Akron, Ohio. Shortly thereafter his father legally changed the family name to Bennett. From a young age, Allen was identified by his peers as a prospective rabbi. A critical part of his early formation was his participation in summer camp every year at Camp Nebagamon in Wisconsin beginning at age 11. He continues to relate to the camp to this day. Allen attended Western Reserve University (later Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, Ohio, where he earned a B.A. with honors in Psychology in 1968. He attended the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Reform Jewish seminary) in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he earned a Bachelor of Hebrew Letters in 1972 and a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters as well as rabbinical ordination in 1974. Allen's first inklings that he might be homosexual emerged in his late teen years and grew to fruition during his years in seminary. However, because of strong antigay polices at the seminary in those days, he remained closeted.