My Great Journey Part 2
Please note that I hope to update this blog weekly. Part 3 is already written and will go up next Friday, the 11th, and I'm already at work on Part 4. That being said, I can't promise weekly updates, but please check back... Thanks/Rona
Impact on my Jewish Identity
In this second post on my transition to becoming Rona, I am
exploring only issues in Jewish practice and tradition.
As with any classical religion, issues of gender identity
are varied and divisive in Judaism. One
can read many items in Torah (the Five Books of Moses) and the Tanakh (Hebrew
Bible) as a whole and find support for gender identities outside of the standard
binary (male-female) existences.
Genesis states that when God created humans, they were
created male AND female. The classic understanding of this is a binary state –
male OR female, but that’s not the correct reading of the Hebrew. Even the Midrash (a classic rabbinic
commentary) states that humanity was created androgynous (the term used today
is Intersex). Rather, the understanding
to gain here is that humanity was created on a gender spectrum.
A very important text for those who are of other than binary
gender is found in the book of Isaiah:
(Chapter 56: 3-5)
Do not let the son of the stranger,
who has joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord has completely
separated me from his people; nor let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose the
things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; And to them will I give in
my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than sons and of
daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.[1]
The prophet is promising, here, that people of non-standard
gender who follow Torah will have a name in Israel, even if they are unable to
have children. This gives great hope to
many who are religiously engaged and are transgender or other LGBTQ people.
Ultimately, for engaged Jews, halakha, or Jewish Law,
becomes a huge factor. Rabbinic writings are rife with examples of alternative
gender. Classical Judaism understood
something that most modern people do not regarding gender identity. The rabbis of the Talmud identified six
unique gender identities. Please see http://www.transtorah.org/PDFs/Classical_Jewish_Terms_for_Gender_Diversity.pdf
for a complete discussion of them. We
now recognize that gender identity is not a binary state or set of discrete
states, but rather a position along a spectrum or spectra of identity traits. Gender identity is as broad and varied as is
the population of the planet.
Coming out as a Transgender person obviously has many
sociological impacts. In Judaism, this can result in being shunned or even
excommunicated by certain communities, although others are much more open and
accepting. The links below provide insights into the issues surrounding
the halakha of Jewish transgender identity.
They explore the classical
sources, and the writings of modern rabbis such as the Tzitz Eliezer¸
Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg of Blessed Memory, of the Rabbinic Court in
Israel. Rabbi Waldenberg determined that a transgender person who
has had Gender Confirmation Surgery should be considered their correct gender
in accordance with halakha. While he did not permit this transition from
the beginning, after the fact, he determined this to be the case. This is in
variance with the standard view that the chromosome 46 markers (XX female or XY
male) are determinative.
The Rabbinical Assembly, the rabbinic organization of the
Conservative Movement has also written a Teshuva, or Responsum, on this
issue, and they reached the same conclusion as the Tzitz Eliezer, that
transgender people who have had Gender Confirmation Surgery should be
considered their correct gender in accordance with Halakha. In their Teshuva, though, they note
that social norms should be considered as well.
In many states in the United States, when a transgender
person begins their journey, and starts living in their correct gender (long
before surgery is an option), they are able to get their names and legal
genders changed in accordance with local law.
This enables new driver’s licenses and other identification papers such
as passports, changes with Social Security, the Veterans’ Administration, the military
and schools, and ultimately changes in the birth certificate (I should note
that most states require confirmation surgery before reissuing the birth
certificate).
So the rabbis of the Rabbinical Assembly ask, if the state
considers a person to be legally of their correct gender, shouldn’t we? Many Conservative rabbis and congregations
are very friendly and supportive of transgender issues among their
communities. More progressive
communities are also supportive. Of
note, the Union of Reform Judaism, in its recent biennial, issued a proclamation
of open support for transgender people.
Of the transgender rabbis currently out, many were ordained
from Hebrew Union College (The Reform Movement). There are others from Boston Hebrew College,
The Academy for Jewish Religion (my seminary) and from other sources of
ordination. I am connected with around
10 such rabbis. http://www.transtorah.org/whoweare.html
gives an introduction to some of them, and the Jewish Week ran a series on six
transgender rabbis in 2013 (http://forward.com/news/180303/first-generation-of-transgender-rabbis-claims-plac/).
For detailed discussions of the halakha, or Jewish
law, of transgender Jews, please see the following pages.
I welcome feedback, but I ask that you keep it polite and
friendly.
Peace/Rona
No comments:
Post a Comment