Maggid Joey Netzorg is a Southern expatriate who learned storytelling at the knee of his father, a known tall tale teller and leg-puller. He tells stories everywhere from the synagogue to the street corner and leads the most irreverent Torah study you’ve ever seen. As a queer trans man he spends more than a little time thinking about what Judaism means to outcasts and exiles — the galutim.

He loves working with Jews of all backgrounds, especially queer and gender-variant Jews. His great passion as a maggid is seeking out and uplifting queer voices through Torah study, midrash old and new, and original stories. He believes strongly that our stories tell us who we are, that all humans are family, and that we can find common ground with each other even when we disagree.

Joey received maggidic s’micha in January 2012 from Rabbi David Zaslow and Maggidah Deborah Gordon Zaslow in the holy lineage of Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi (z”l). He lives in Denver, Colorado, with his partner Ari and the ghost of his Beloved Wife of Blessed Memory™ Miryam (z”l). He has five grown children, one perfect grandchild, and a passel of cats.