I realized that all forms of religion are masks that the divine wears to communicate with us. Behind all religions there’s a reality, and this reality wears whatever clothes it needs to speak to a particular people.
- Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, The December Project: An Extraordinary Rabbi and a Skeptical Seeker Confront Life’s Greatest Mystery
I wanted to show that if you claim being trans is unacceptable in traditional Judaism, well, here is a community that is not just okay with accepting me as I am, but is celebrating with me, rejoicing with me. What I’m hoping is that by sharing my story, others in the same situation will realize that you can have your name changed in a synagogue. There are so many synagogues where you can’t, but there are also those where you can — the Jewish Reform movement, the Conservative movement. Within Orthodoxy, there’s still a long way to go. Every time something like this is done, it’s one step closer to acceptance for everyone.
I managed to keep myself from crying during the ceremony, but I choked up at one part. It was a traditional blessing that meant, “Blessed are you, O Lord, who has kept me alive and brought me up to this day.” I’m grateful that I survived to this day. That was a point that was really important. The name change was also a very emotional part. The way the community reacted was so amazing.
Even the negative feedback has ended up being positive. People would ask me, “I don’t get it, are you religious or not?” My answer to them is, “That’s not a yes or no question.”
- How This Ex-Hasidic Woman Lost and Found Her Judaism, Huffington Post, June 9, 2016
(מו) אַתָּה נִגְלֵיתָ בַּעֲנַן כְּבוֹדֶךָ עַל עַם קָדְשְׁךָ לְדַבֵּר עִמָּם. מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם הִשְׁמַעְתָּם קוֹלֶךָ, וְנִגְלֵיתָ עֲלֵיהֶם בְּעַרְפְּלֵּי טֹהַר. גַּם כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ חָל מִפָּנֶיךָ, וּבְרִיּוֹת בְּרֵאשִׁית חָרְדוּ מִמֶּךָּ, בְּהִגָּלוֹתְךָ מַלְכֵּנוּ עַל הַר סִינַי: לְלַמֵּד לְעַמְּךָ תּוֹרָה וּמִצְווֹת. וַתַּשְׁמִיעֵם אֶת הוֹד קוֹלֶךָ, וְדִבְּרוֹת קָדְשְׁךָ מִלַּהֲבוֹת אֵשׁ. בְּקוֹלוֹת וּבְרָקִים עֲלֵיהֶם נִגְלֵיתָ, וּבְקוֹל שׁוֹפָר עֲלֵיהֶם הוֹפָעְתָּ.
וְנֶאֱמַר, וְכָל הָעָם רוֹאִים אֶת הַקּוֹלוֹת, וְאֶת הַלַּפִּידִם, וְאֵת קוֹל הַשּׁוֹפָר וְאֶת הָהָר עָשֵׁן, וַיַּרְא הָעָם וַיָּנֻעוּ וַיַּעַמְדוּ מֵרָחֹק:
You were revealed in Your cloud of glory, to Your holy people, to speak to them. From the heavens, You let them hear Your voice, and revealed Yourself to them in pure clouds. So too, the entire world quivered before You, and the works of creation trembled before You, when You, our King revealed Yourself upon Mount Sinai to teach Your people Torah and mitzvos. You let them hear the majestic splendor of Your voice, and Your holy words from flames of fire; amidst thunder and lightning You revealed Yourself to them, and with the sound of a shofar, You appeared to them.
And it is said: All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blare of the horn and the mountain smoking. (Exodus 20:15)
“All the people” were there. The entire community. This is also interpreted in the Rabbinic tradition to mean that all people from generations past, present, and future were present. People of all ages and societal status. People of all genders and gender identities and sexual orientations. Therefore, all those who shared in this sacred covenant between God and the Jewish people also have a place in the Jewish community of today.
- Shavuot and LGBTQ Rights, Chai Religious Action Center, rac.org
"The Jewish values and principles which I regard as eternal, transcendent and divinely ordained, do not condemn homosexuality. The Judaism I cherish and affirm teaches love of humanity, respect for the spark of divinity in every person, and the human right to live with dignity. The G-d I worship endorses loving, responsible, and committed human relationships, regardless of the sex of the persons involved."
- Janet Marder, "Jewish and Gay," Keeping Posted 32, 2; November, 1986.
וַיֹּאמֶר כִּי־יָד עַל־כֵּס יָהּ מִלְחָמָה לַיהוָה בַּעֲמָלֵק מִדֹּר דֹּר׃
He said, “It means, ‘Hand upon the throne of the LORD!’ The LORD will be at war with Amalek throughout the ages.”
כי יד על כס יה. יָדוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּבָּ"ה הֻרְמָה לִשָּׁבַע בְּכִסְאוֹ לִהְיוֹת לוֹ מִלְחָמָה וְאֵיבָה בַעֲמָלֵק עוֹלָמִית, וּמַהוּ כֵּס וְלֹא נֶאֱמַר כִּסֵּא? וְאַף הַשֵּׁם נֶחֱלַק לְחֶצְיוֹ? נִשְׁבַּע הַקָּבָּ"ה שֶׁאֵין שְׁמוֹ שָׁלֵם וְאֵין כִּסְאוֹ שָׁלֵם עַד שֶׁיִּמָּחֶה שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל עֲמָלֵק כֻּלּוֹ...
Because the Hand is upon the Throne of Yah - What is the force of כס - why does it not say as usual כסא? And the Divine Name, also, is divided into half (יה is only the half of the Tetragrammaton)! The Holy One, swears that His Name will not be perfect, nor His throne perfect, until the name of Amalek be entirely blotted out.
Rabbi Arthur Green, “Radical Judaism”:
“Being or Y-H-W-H underlies and unifies all that is. ... There is no ultimate duality here, no "God and world," no "God, World, and self," Only one Being and its many faces.
When I refer to ‘God,’ I mean the inner force of existence itself, that of which one might say: ‘Being is.’ I refer to it as the ‘One’ because it is the single unifying substratum of all that is. (18, 19).
“Being is One, and each person is God’s unique image” (153).
Transition Ritual
“In our tradition leaving Egypt wasn’t an historical event alone. In our tradition, it was a personal and existential leaving as well.
"בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ\עַצְמָהּ כְאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא\ה מִמִּצְרַיִם” (In every generation a person must regard themselves as though they personally had gone out of Egypt), Whenever we leave a narrow place, a place of constriction, painful servitute, a place where we are not authentically who we are, that leap taking, that transitioning, is an exodus. A freedom walk.
Rabbi David Ingber, Romemu
הִגָּלֶה נָא וּפְרוֹס חֲבִיבִי עָלַי אֶת סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמֶךָ.
Please, be revealed and spread the covering, beloved, Upon me, the shelter of your tranquility
The journey from Passover to Shavout is seven weeks. Counting each night, we count the steps towards revelation and still, suddenly, the time for receiving Torah is here! As I prepare for my own experience of revelation this year, here is what I expect to see at Sinai: I expect to see millions of Jews standing together. I expect to see cultural Jews standing next to Orthodox Jews standing next to our non-Jewish family members and friends. I expect to see families, of all different configurations, huddled together under one tallit or around a picnic blanket. I expect to see cisgender Jews and transgender Jews, Jews with matrilineal lineage and Jews by choice. I expect to see millions of people staring at the heavens, watching the thunder and lightning.
- Rabbi Becky Silverstein, My Jewish Learning, 2013
Check out my website - The Second Transition: www.thesecondtransition.blogspot.com
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