The six 'genders' of the Talmud are often used in modern times to apply to what we would now call Transgender or non-binary people and while this is helpful in some cases (especially if it brings comfort and representation to Jewish trans folk) but it's best to remember these designations are removed from modern context and what they describe is closer to what we'd call 'sex' today as they refer to physical genitals and other sex characteristics.
From this we should first state two things:
- The Talmudic designations of sex are from an ancient society completely removed from modern day gender and sex labels.
- Bearing point 1) in mind, these designations are still excellent proof that people who do not fit into the typical physical characteristics of either binary sex have existed since before the time of the Babylonian Talmud.
Zachar - Male. derived from a word for a sword.
Nekeivah- Female derived from the word for a crevice.
Androgynos- borrowed from the greek (Andros + Gynos Man + Woman) refers to an Intersex person who has both 'Male' and 'Female' sex characteristics.
Tumtum - Means 'hidden' refers to someone whose sex characteristics are somehow obscured. Unlike the Androgynos a Tumtum is seen as being sometimes completely male and sometimes completely female.
Aylonit- Someone who is assigned female at birth but develops male characteristics at puberty. This is also likely an ancient intersex designation but seems to encompass many women who become infertile later in life.
Saris - Used on it's own as a term for a eunuch
- Saris Chammach - someone who is born a saris. Typically they are assigned male at birth but do not develop male characteristics at puberty. But a Saris Chammach can include someone who was either born without a penis due to a genetic condition or whose penis was damaged from infancy. This categorisation it's worth pointing out, seems to encompass multiple Intersex conditions as well as what we now know as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
-Saris Adam - someone who becomes a saris later in life and is rendered infertile.
Sources: http://www.sojourngsd.org/blog/sixgenders; Mishnah Bikkurim
This is the record of Adam’s line.—When God created humankind, it was made in the likeness of God; male and female were they created. And when they were created, [God] blessed them and called them Humankind. — When Adam had lived 130 years, he begot a son in his likeness after his image, and he named him Seth.
אָמַר רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס בְּרָאוֹ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (בראשית ה, ב): זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בְּרָאָם.
Said Rabbi Yirmyah ben Elazar: When the Holy One created Adam, He created him as an androgynous person. This is as is written (Bereishit 5:2): "Male and female He created them."
אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס בְּרָאוֹ, אָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁנִּבְרָא דוּ פַּרְצוּפִין נִבְרָא וּנְסָרוֹ וְנַעֲשָׂה שְׁנַיִם גַּבִּים, גַּב לְזָכָר גַּב לִנְקֵבָה
Said Rav Shmuel bar Nachman: When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first man, he created him as an androgynous being. Reish Lakish: When it was created, dual faces [together] were created, and it was cut, and two were made. [One] back was male, [one] back was female.
אמר רבי אמי אברהם ושרה טומטמין היו שנאמר (ישעיהו נא, א) הביטו אל צור חוצבתם ואל מקבת בור נוקרתם וכתיב (ישעיהו נא, ב) הביטו אל אברהם אביכם ואל שרה תחוללכם אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבוה שרה אמנו אילונית היתה שנאמר (בראשית יא, ל) ותהי שרי עקרה אין לה ולד אפי' בית ולד אין לה
Rabbi Ami said: Abraham and Sarah were tumtumin, as it is stated: “Look to the rock from where you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from where you were dug” (Isaiah 51:1), and it is written “Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you” (Isaiah 51:2), which indicates that sexual organs were fashioned for them, signified by the words hewn and dug, over the course of time. Rav Naḥman said that Rabba bar Avuh said: Our mother Sarah was an aylonit, as it is stated: “And Sarah was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30). The superfluous words: “She had no child,” indicate that she did not have even a place, i.e., a womb, for a child.
Worthy Editor:
Not long ago I read a story in the Forverts that took place in America, about how a girl became a man. But that’s not news to the people in the town where I’m from. Permit me to tell the story in your paper. In our shtetl of Krivozer, Ukraine, everyone knew Beyle, the girl who sold herring, geese, and other foodstuffs. She was a tall redhead and sturdily built. She also spoke with a deep bass voice and walked about with hard and heavy steps. The way she carried herself always brought forth an uncertain feeling: something like, she’s not quite a woman, but also not quite a man. When she was still a child, her father would often take her to see the Tolner Rebbe, Reb Dovidl, and sometimes to the Sadigura Rebbe, to ask for help. The only answer he ever got was “God will help, God will help.” The father would return home anguished and unhappy. In the meantime, the years flew by and Beyle grew, too, until she reached the age of 23. One fine morning, Beyle left for Odessa, where she was introduced to an important professor. She spent a long time under his care, under which Beyle eventually became a man. The story was well known and was in all the papers—all Russia talked of it. In the shtetl, we waited impatiently for her return. And on the day when Beyle was to arrive, half the shtetl ran to the bridge to greet her, or better said, to greet him. And she wasn’t called Beyle anymore: Now she was Berel. And when we saw “her,” it was as if we were stunned: Before our eyes was a handsome, healthy, redheaded man. Anyone who didn’t know Beyle previously would never have known that he had been a girl. From then on in the shtetl, “she” was called Berel-Beyle. With the help of the professor, the government freed him from military service. Berel-Beyle soon learned to daven and was in synagogue every day. Later on, he got married to an old girlfriend, Black Rachel, who was a nice girl. In our shtetl, Berel-Beyle always had a good name as a fine, upstanding Jew.
Yeshaye Katovski
2817 West 32nd St., Brooklyn, New York
Trans. Eddy Portnoy
From TimTum Zine by Nomy Lamm