Gender Presentation
(ח) מותר לישא אשה בפורים: הגה בין בי"ד בין בט"ו וכ"ש שמותר לעשות פדיון הבן (תוס' פרק קמא דמועד קטן) מה שנהגו ללבוש פרצופים בפורים וגבר לובש שמלת אשה ואשה כלי גבר אין איסור בדבר מאחר שאין מכוונין אלא לשמחה בעלמא וכן בלבישת כלאים דרבנן וי"א דאסור אבל המנהג כסברא הראשונה וכן בני אדם החוטפים זה מזה דרך שמחה אין בזה משום לא תגזול ונהגו כך ובלבד שלא יעשה דבר שלא כהוגן ע"פ טובי העיר: (תשובת מהר"י מינץ סי' י"ז):
(8) It is permitted to get married on Purim. Rama: This refers to both the fourteenth and the fifteenth of the month, and one can certainly perform Pidyon Haben too. As to the custom of wearing 'faces' on Purim, and men who wear women's dresses and women wearing men's attire - this is not forbidden, for they have no intention other than pure pleasure. So too the practice of wearing kilayim, rabinically forbidden mixtures of clothes. And although some say it is forbidden, we follow the first opinion. So too, the custom of stealing from each other in a happy way - this does not fall under the prohibition of 'Do not steal', and this is what is done, as long as one does not transgress what is considered acceptable by the elders of the town.
Sources make it clear that the prohibition against the wearing of clothing that does not match one's gender is for the purpose of avoiding adultery or sexual immorality, and other purposes are acceptable. (Also, trans men are men, trans women are women, and so a trans man wearing male clothing or a trans woman wearing female clothing is wholly appropriate within the commandment. If anything, it would be a violation of the commandment to force a trans person to continue presenting as the gender they were assigned at birth- thus causing a man to dress as a woman, or a woman to dress as a man).
The Holiness of Nonbinary Identities
(א) וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ (בראשית א, כו), רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן פָּתַח (תהלים קלט, ה): אָחוֹר וָקֶדֶם צַרְתָּנִי וגו', אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אִם זָכָה אָדָם, אוֹכֵל שְׁנֵי עוֹלָמוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: אָחוֹר וָקֶדֶם צַרְתָּנִי, וְאִם לָאו הוּא בָּא לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קלט, ה): וַתָּשֶׁת עָלַי כַּפֶּכָה. אָמַר רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס בְּרָאוֹ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (בראשית ה, ב): זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בְּרָאָם. אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, דְּיוּ פַּרְצוּפִים בְּרָאוֹ, וְנִסְּרוֹ וַעֲשָׂאוֹ גַּבִּים, גַּב לְכָאן וְגַב לְכָאן. אֲתִיבוּן לֵיהּ וְהָכְתִיב (בראשית ב, כא): וַיִּקַּח אַחַת מִצַּלְעֹתָיו, אֲמַר לְהוֹן מִתְּרֵין סִטְרוֹהִי, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (שמות כו, כ): וּלְצֶלַע הַמִּשְׁכָּן, דִּמְתַרְגְּמִינַן וְלִסְטַר מַשְׁכְּנָא וגו'. רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי בְּנָיָה וְרַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אָמַר, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן גֹּלֶם בְּרָאוֹ, וְהָיָה מוּטָל מִסּוֹף הָעוֹלָם וְעַד סוֹפוֹ, הֲדָא הוא דִכְתִיב (תהלים קלט, טז): גָּלְמִי רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ וגו'. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בַּר נְחֶמְיָה וְרַבִּי יְהוּדָה בַּר סִימוֹן בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אָמַר מְלֹא כָל הָעוֹלָם בְּרָאוֹ, מִן הַמִּזְרָח לַמַּעֲרָב מִנַּיִן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קלט, ה): אָחוֹר וָקֶדֶם צַרְתָּנִי וגו'. מִצָּפוֹן לַדָּרוֹם מִנַּיִן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים ד, לב): וּלְמִקְצֵה הַשָּׁמַיִם וְעַד קְצֵה הַשָּׁמָיִם. וּמִנַּיִן אַף בַּחֲלָלוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קלט, טז): וַתָּשֶׁת עָלַי כַּפֶּכָה, כְּמָה דְּאַתְּ אָמַר (איוב יג, כא): כַּפְּךָ מֵעָלַי הַרְחַק. אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר, אָחוֹר לְמַעֲשֵׂה יוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן, וָקֶדֶם לְמַעֲשֵׂה יוֹם הָאַחֲרוֹן. הוּא דַעְתֵּיהּ דְּרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר דְּאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר (בראשית א, כד): תּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה לְמִינָהּ, זֶה רוּחוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן. אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ, אָחוֹר לְמַעֲשֵׂה יוֹם הָאַחֲרוֹן, וָקֶדֶם לְמַעֲשֵׂה יוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן, הוּא דַעְתֵּיהּ דְּרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ, דְּאָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ (בראשית א, ב): וְרוּחַ אֱלֹקִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם, זֶה רוּחוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ, הֵיךְ מָה דְּאַתְּ אָמֵר (ישעיה יא, ב): וְנָחָה עָלָיו רוּחַ ה', אִם זָכָה אָדָם אוֹמְרִים לוֹ אַתָּה קָדַמְתָּ לְמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת, וְאִם לָאו אוֹמְרִים לוֹ זְבוּב קְדָמְךָ, יַתּוּשׁ קְדָמְךָ, שִׁלְשׁוּל זֶה קְדָמְךָ. אָמַר רַב נַחְמָן אָחוֹר לְכָל הַמַּעֲשִׂים, וָקֶדֶם לְכָל עֳנָשִׁין. אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל אַף בְּקִלּוּס אֵינוֹ בָּא אֶלָּא בָּאַחֲרוֹנָה, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (תהלים קמח, א): הַלְּלוּ אֶת ה' מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם וגו', וְאוֹמֵר כָּל הַפָּרָשָׁה, וְאַחַר כָּךְ (תהלים קמח, ז): הַלְּלוּ אֶת ה' מִן הָאָרֶץ וגו' וְאוֹמֵר כָּל הַפָּרָשָׁה, וְאַחַר כָּךְ אוֹמֵר (תהלים קמח, יא): מַלְכֵי אֶרֶץ וְכָל לְאֻמִּים (תהלים קמח, יב): בַּחוּרִים וְגַם בְּתוּלוֹת. אָמַר רַבִּי שִׂמְלָאי כְּשֵׁם שֶׁקִּלּוּסוֹ אֵינָהּ אֶלָא אַחַר בְּהֵמָה חַיָּה וְעוֹף, כָּךְ בְּרִיָּתוֹ אֵינָהּ אֶלָּא אַחַר בְּהֵמָה חַיָּה וָעוֹף, מַה טַּעְמֵיהּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית א, כ): וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יִשְׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם, וְאַחַר כָּךְ (בראשית א, כד): וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ וגו', וְאַחַר כָּךְ (בראשית א, כו): וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם וגו'.
(1) ... Said R’ Yirmiyah ben Elazar: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created him [as] an androgyne/androginos, as it is said, “male and female He created them”. Said R’ Shmuel bar Nachmani: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created [for] him a double-face/di-prosopon/ du-par’tsufin, and sawed him and made him backs, a back here and a back [t]here, as it is said, “Back/achor and before/qedem You formed me” [Ps 139:5]. They objected to him: But it says, “He took one of his ribs/ts’la`ot . . . ” [Gn 2:21]! He said to them: [It means] “[one] of his sides/sit’rohi”, just as you would say, “And for the side/tsela` of the Tabernacle/ mishkan” [Ex 26:20], which they translate [in Aramaic] “for the side/seter”. R’ Tanchuma in the name of R’ Banayah and R’ B’rakhyah in the name of R’ Elazar said: In the time that the Holy One created Adam Harishon, [as] a golem He created him and he was set up from [one] end of the world and unto its [other] end – that’s what is written: “Your eyes saw my golem” [Ps 139:16]. R’ Yehoshua bar Nechemyah and R’ Yehudah bar Simon in R’ Elazar’s name said: He created him filling the whole world. From where [do we know he extended] from the East to West? That it’s said: “Back/achor (i.e., after, the place of sunset) and before/East/qedem You formed/enclosed me /tsartani” [Ps 139:5]. From where [that he went] from North to South? That it’s said: “and from the edge of the heavens and until the edge of the heavens” [Dt 4:32]. And from where [that he filled] even the world’s hollow-space? That it’s said: “. . . and You laid Your palm upon me” [Ps 139:5]...
- Rabbi Elliot Kukla, Reform Devises Sex-Change Blessings
(ז) רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן הֲוָה אָזִיל לִטְבֶרְיָה, וְהֲווּ עִמֵּיהּ רַבִּי יוֹסֵי וְרַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי חִיָּיא. אַדְּהָכִי חָמוּ לֵיהּ לְרַבִּי פִּנְחָס דְּהֲוָה אָתֵי. כֵּיוָן דְּאִתְחַבָּרוּ כְּחֲדָא, נַחֲתוּ וְיָתְבוּ תְּחוֹת אִילָנָא חַד מֵאִילָנֵי טוּרָא. אָמַר רַבִּי פִּנְחָס הָא יָתִיבְנָא, מֵאִלֵּין מִלֵּי מַעַלְיָיתָא דְּאַתְּ אָמֵר בְּכָל יוֹמָא בְּעֵינָא לְמִשְׁמַע.
(7) Rabbi Simeon was journeying to Tiberias, and there were with him, Rabbi Jose, Rabbi Jehuda, and Rabbi Hiya. While on the way, they saw Rabbi Pinchus coming to meet them. After exchanging greetings, they all sat down under a great shady tree by a hillside. Then Rabbi Pinchus said: "now that we are seated, please instruct me further in the Secret Doctrine, that you are teaching daily."
(ח) פָּתַח רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן וְאָמַר (בראשית יג) וַיֵּלֶךְ לְמַסָּעָיו מִנֶּגֶב וְעַד בֵּית אֵל עַד הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר הָיָה שָׁם אָהֳלֹה בַּתְּחִלָּה בֵּין בֵּית אֵל וּבֵין הָעָי. וַיֵּלֶךְ לְמַסָּעָיו, לְמַסָּעוֹ מִבָּעֵי לֵיהּ. מַאי לְמַסָּעָיו. אֶלָּא תְּרֵין מַטְלָנִין אִנּוּן. חַד דִּידֵיהּ וְחַד דִּשְׁכִינְתָּא. דְּהָא כָּל בַּר נָשׁ בָּעֵי לְאִשְׁתַּכְּחָא דְּכַר וְנוּקְבָא בְּגִין לְאַתְקָפָא מְהֵימְנוּתָא. וּכְדֵין שְׁכִינְתָּא לָא אִתְפָּרְשָׁא מִנֵּיהּ לְעָלְמִין.
(8) Then Rabbi Simeon said: "It is written, 'and he went on his journeys from the south to Bethel unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai' (Gen. 13:3). It says, 'He went on his journeys' instead of 'his journey.' Why is that? There is a reference not only to his own journeying, but also that of the Schekina, who always went with Jacob, and therefore we learn that every person needs to be male and female at all time, for the sake of his faith, he ought not to think or imagine that the Schekina forsakes
(ט) וְאִי תֵימָא מָאן דְּנָפִיק לְאוֹרְחָא דְּלָא אִשְׁתְּכַח דְּכַר וְנוּקְבָא, שְׁכִינְתָּא אִתְפָּרְשָׁא מִנִּיהּ. תָּא חֲזֵי, הַאי מַאן דְּנָפִיק לְאָרְחָא (קסח א) יְסַדֵּר צְלוֹתָא קַמֵּי קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא. בְּגִין לְאַמְשָׁכָא עֲלֵיהּ שְׁכִינְתָּא דְּמָרֵיהּ עַד לָא יִפּוּק לְאָרְחָא בְּזִמְנָא דְּאִשְׁתְּכַח דְּכַר וְנוּקְבָא. כֵּיוָן דְּסַדַּר צְלוֹתֵיהּ וְשִׁבְחֵיהּ וּשְׁכִינְתָּא שָׁרְיָיא עֲלֵיהּ יִפּוּק. דְּהָא שְׁכִינְתָּא אִזְדַּוְוגַת בַּהֲדֵיהּ. בְּגִין דְּיִשְׁתְּכַח דְּכַר וְנוּקְבָא. דְּכַר וְנוּקְבָא בְּמָתָא. דְּכַר וְנוּקְבָא בְּחַקְלָא. הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב, (תהילים פ״ה:י״ד) צֶדֶק לְפָנָיו יְהַלֵּךְ וְיָשֵׂם לְדֶרֶךְ פְּעָמָיו.
(9) him in any way. See, it has been said, a man ought always to cleave to his wife that the Schekina may always be with him, yet it is possible to go alone on a journey and the Schekina will still be with him. And when doing so he ought to direct his prayer to the Holy One that this may be, and in this way the male and female will always be associated in union with oneself.
"Every person must be both male and female at all times"!
Male vs Female Practice
(ג) כָּל מִצְוֹת לֹא תַּעֲשֶׂה שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה אֶחָד אֲנָשִׁים וְאֶחָד נָשִׁים חַיָּבִים חוּץ מִ"בַּל תַּשְׁחִית" וּ"בַל תַּקִּיף" וּ"בַל יִטָּמֵא כֹּהֵן לַמֵּתִים" (משנה קידושין א ז). וְכָל מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁהִיא מִזְּמַן לִזְמַן וְאֵינָהּ תְּדִירָה נָשִׁים פְּטוּרוֹת חוּץ מִקִּדּוּשׁ הַיּוֹם וַאֲכִילַת מַצָּה בְּלֵילֵי הַפֶּסַח וַאֲכִילַת הַפֶּסַח וּשְׁחִיטָתוֹ וְהַקְהֵל וְשִׂמְחָה שֶׁהַנָּשִׁים חַיָּבוֹת:
(3) Both men and woman are obliged to observe all of the prohibitive commandments in the Torah, save destroying a beard, rounding the corners of the head, and a priest's contamination for the dead which refer only to men; and, pertaining to mandatory commandments, every such commandment the performance of which takes place only at stated times, and not continuously women are exempted, save the sanctification of the Sabbath day with words of prayer, eating of Mazzah on the first (two) night(s) of Passover, the eating of the Paschal lamb, its slaughter, to be present when all Israel assemble once in seven years, and rejoicing on the festivals wherein women's participation is obligatory.
(Although I initially set out to include descriptions of both male and female practice and sources for them in this sheet, I have quickly realized that such an endeavor would be deserving of two sheets of their own. As such, I may assemble those in the future for my own reference, and cite them here, but for the time being I will leave just this source summarizing).
On Souls and Reincarnation
שער הגלגולים, הקדמה ט'
גם דע, כי לפעמים יתגלגל האיש בגוף נקבה, לסבת איזה עון, כמו משכב זכור וכיוצא בו. והנה הנקבה הזאת שהיא גלגול נשמת זכר, אינה יכולה לקבל הריון ולהתעבר.
והנה האשה הזאת צריכה זכות גדול לשתוכל להתעבר ולהוליד, ואין לה מציאות אחר, זולתי שתתעבר בה איזו נשמת אשה נקבה אחרת בסוד העבור.
אמנם אי אפשר לה ללדת בנים זכרים לשתי סבות, האחת היא, לפי שהכתוב אומר, אשה כי חזריע וילדה זכר, אבל כאן האשה היא זכר כבעלה, ואינה יכולה ללדת זכרים אלא נקבות. הסבה הב' היא, לפי שכיון שאותה נשמה של הנקבה שנכנסה בה, לא נכנסה רק בסוד העבור לבד, כדי לסייעה שתתעבר ותלד, ולכן כיון שהאשה הזאת יולדת, אין הנשמה ההיא צריכה עוד להשאר שם בסוד העבור ללא צורך, ואז בעת שיולדת נכנס בה הנשמה ההיא של סוד העבור, ואז הולד ההוא יוצא נקבה ולא זכר:
Sha'ar Hagilgulim, Chapter 9
Sometimes a man may reincarnate into the body of a woman because of a sin, such as homosexuality or something similar. This woman who has received the soul of a man will not be able to conceive and become pregnant
This woman will need great merit to enable her to become pregnant and give birth. The only way it can be done is that some other feminine soul must enter her as an ibur.
However, she cannot give birth to sons for two reasons. The first is [as follows:] There is a verse that says, "…If a woman puts forth seed, and a male child is born" (Lev. 12:2). In this case, the woman is a male, just like her husband. She cannot give birth to boys, but only to girls.
The second reason is that the feminine soul that has entered her does so only as an ibur in order to help her become pregnant and give birth. Once this woman gives birth, that soul does not need to stay there any longer for no reason. At the time that she gives birth, that [feminine] soul enters into the fetus as an actual gilgul, and not as an ibur, like it was at first. That is why the child that is born must be female and not male.
ספר רזין דאורייתא, בשם הרבי ר' מיכל מזלאטשוב
אולם הכוונה, דנודע אשר יצחק נולד בנשמת נוקבא, וכמו שכתב בעל אור החיים הק', ועל ידי העקדה היה לו נשמת דכר להשפיע. ועל פי זה מובן למה לא נמצא באדם יותר עקרה מאשר מבבהמה, אשר בפסוק נשתוו זה לזה בברכה, לא יהיה בך ובבהמתך עקר ועקרה, רק זאת נודע סדר הגלגולים. ולפעמים נקבה תסובב גבר כי בסבת הגלגול נשמת נקבה תבוא בזכר, כאשר י'תרעם ה'גלגל ו'יתרעש ה'חוזר לבוא בגלגול שני ושלישי. ואם נקבה אשר תסובב בגבר, שני נקבות אינם מולידים, רק על ידי מעשי הטוב מחליפין הנשמה, ולאת יצחק החליפו הנשמה. לפיכך לו ולא לה, כי יצחק היה צריך לאותו דבר ולא רבקה:
It is known that when Issac was born, he was born with the soul of a female, as it is written in Or Hachaim, and through the akeidah (binding of Issac) he got a male soul that can influence (meaning, can impregnate). With that we can understand why they more infertile humans than animals, even though that they both got the same blessing "It will not be within you and within your animals infertility". But, this is known according to the Sod (Secret/Mysticism) of reincarnation - that at times, a female would be in a male body, because in the reasons of gilgal (reincarnation) the soul of a female would come to be in a male. ... That is why it says by Issac that Hashem answered to Him and not to Her (Rebecca), because he needed divine help to be able to have kids.
Translation by Abby Stein
Any further sources don't appear to be translated, and will have to wait until I learn Hebrew
The Six Sexes of the Talmud
(I use the term "sexes" here rather than "genders," because the terms in question are determined by physical characteristics, and it is my understanding that this is a more accurate term).
Zachar: This term is derived from the word for a pointy sword and refers to a phallus. It is usually translated as “male” in English.
Nekevah: This term is derived from the word for a crevice and probably refers to a vaginal opening. It is usually translated as “female” in English.
Androgynos: A person who has both “male” and “female” sexual characteristics. 149 references in Mishna and Talmud (1st-8th Centuries CE); 350 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes (2nd -16th Centuries CE).
Tumtum: A person whose sexual characteristics are indeterminate or obscured. 181 references in Mishna and Talmud; 335 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes.
Ay’lonit: A person who is identified as “female” at birth but develops “male” characteristics at puberty and is infertile. 80 references in Mishna and Talmud; 40 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes.
Saris: A person who is identified as “male” at birth but develops “female” characteristics as puberty and/or is lacking a penis. A saris can be “naturally” a saris (saris hamah), or become one through human intervention (saris adam). 156 references in mishna and Talmud; 379 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes.
(א) אנדוגינוס יש בו דרכים שוה לאנשים ויש בו דרכים שוה לנשים ויש בו דרכים שוה לאנשים ונשים ויש בו דרכים אינו שוה לא לאנשים ולא לנשים: (ה) רבי מאיר אומר אנדרוגינוס בריה בפני עצמה הוא ולא יכלו חכמים להכריע עליו אם הוא איש או אשה אבל טומטום אינו כן פעמים שהוא איש פעמים שהוא אשה:
(1) An Androginus (a hermaphrodite, who has both male and female reproductive organs) is similar to men in some, and to women in other ways, in some ways to both, and in some ways to neither. (5) Rabbi Meir Says: Androginus is a (gender) category of its own, (because) the rabbis could not decipher whatever s/he is a man or or a women. However a Tumtum is not so, as at times s/he is fully male, and at times s/he is fully female (but we can't tell which).
(Literal translation by Abby Stein)
Although it is clear that these terms are intended for individuals who are intersex or have certain injuries, the discussion of these identities is valuable as a recognition of various identities beyond male and female. Furthermore, the guidelines for which commandments apply to these identities may be of value for non-cis individuals attempting to determine which commandments they are obligated to or wish to follow.
Should a nonbinary individual perform the time-bound positive mitzvot? I do believe that people of any gender should practice the mitzvot that they feel are important for their spiritual wellbeing and growth, but it is undeniable that certain practices are historically tied to certain genders. There is value in recognizing this, and understanding why, for individuals who do not identify with the gender that they were assigned at birth- after all, if one was raised knowing that "praying with tefillin is for men," and they are a nonbinary person who was assigned male at birth, it could be a source of great dysphoria to continue to do so. However, this feeling might be replaced by a joyous and affirmative spiritual practice if praying with tefillin is found to be an expectation for individuals who are neither male nor female.
Thus, it is valuable to study the texts regarding these sexes, even if you prefer an egalitarian approach to mitzvot.
(ד) טֻמְטוּם וְאַנְדְּרוֹגִינוּס הֲרֵי הֵן סָפֵק, נוֹתְנִין עֲלֵיהֶן חֻמְרֵי הָאִישׁ וְחֻמְרֵי הָאִשָּׁה בְּכָל מָקוֹם וְחַיָּבִים בַּכּל. וְאִם עָבְרוּ אֵינָם לוֹקִין:
(4) A gynander and androgyne, beings of doubtful sex, have the major responsibilities of both, men and women, of all commandments and are obliged to observe them all; nevertheless, if they violate any of them no stripes are inflicted.
There are more relevant passages, but they are not translated and will have to wait until I learn Hebrew.
Other Relevant Sources
Joy Ladin, Torah In Transition - transtorah.org
Painful as it was, I grew up in the world of “male and female God created them,” a world in which gender was, and in many ways still is, essential to humanness. In this country, you can’t get a birth certificate, social security number, driver’s license, or passport without being allocated to the ranks of male or female – which means you can’t get a job, insurance coverage, the right to drive or rent a car or move across borders without taking your place, at least on paper, in the gender binary. In some public places, you can’t pee without identifying yourself as male or female. Thanks to sonograms, many babies are gendered even before they are born, and those who aren’t are labeled “male” or “female” the moment their pelvises see the light of day.
In this sense, as Genesis 1:27 suggests, gender is absolute; we aren’t treated as human until we take our places in the binary.
But as God and Adam discover in Genesis 2, gender is not only an image in which we are created; it is an image in which we create, and recreate, ourselves, through our relationships to one another. Even in the most rigidly gendered social arenas, gender is not absolute. The gender of an octogenarian has little in common with the gender of an adolescent. The gender of the young veiled bride is very different from the gender the same woman will express when she is a forty-something mother of three, and both are different from the gender she expresses when she is in hospital scrubs performing surgery. Gender is something we bring out of ourselves, shaping and reshaping it in response to changing needs for completeness, companionship and a place in the world.
Gender, then, is not a matter of bodies or even souls; as Adam recognizes when he first sees Eve, gender is a way of relating to others that enables us to feel like ourselves. To the extent that gender grows out of relationships, even within the categories of “male” and “female,” our genders are fluid, shifting in nuance and emphasis as we move in and out of contact with people we know and need in different ways. In other words, both accounts in Genesis are true; or rather, truth is what we get when we take both, contradictions and all, together. Gender is both a given of existence and a relationship driven process, an absolute template and a fluid mode of self-expression. And as I’ve discovered, both conceptions of gender have advantages, even for a transsexual.
Some of us may be created according to the male and female binary; I wasn’t. Like Adam, I’m a homemade creature. God didn’t create me in relation to a category; I had to be individually imagined, assembled, animated. Like Adam, I had to confront the loneliness of that individuality before I could find my place in the world, and like Adam, I have learned that what I needed to find that place was always within me.
As one study of child development points out, all of us learn to act like the gender we “are” by learning to avoid behaviors that are associated with genders we “aren’t.” This means that masculinity contains – indeed, is defined by – the femininity boys and men are taught not to express; all males internalize a femininity that, like Adam’s rib, can be brought out of our male identities and fashioned into new female selves. In this sense, I’m not approximating a femininity that isn’t mine; like my breasts’ ability to grow when exposed to estrogen, femininity has always been there, sleeping within me. Like Adam, I simply – simply! – had to cut myself open to give birth to the woman swaddled and smothered by my masculinity. Our tradition teaches us that we grow through reading Torah. But the Torah itself grows by being read, remains alive, fresh, startling and new, by becoming part of the lives blossoming and dying around it. As our Sages tell us, the Torah is our life, and the length of our days. All our days: gay, straight, male, female, trans, the days we first open our eyes to the world and the days we gaze our last upon it. The Torah’s roots stretch down to the depths of our being; its limbs stretch through us, toward the future. It is not only our right to read the Torah through our gay, lesbian, bi- and trans- lives; it is our obligation. The Torah’s life depends on ours.