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| The Teshuva Writing Collective (JTA) |
The idea of a Queer Yeshiva would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic. But I cry because of the Halachic issues involved that make their lives so difficult. I cry because of the ridicule and rejection so many transgender people go through. I cry because of the high rate of clinical depression and suicide among them. I cry because of the way society is trying to normalize them. As if being a man or woman is just a matter choice that can be corrected surgically if one is born the ‘wrong’ sex.
For Orthodox Jews, changing one’s sex or cross dressing is expressly forbidden by Halacha. (Whether Pikuach Nefesh plays a role with respect to their high rate of suicide is a legitimate question but beyond the scope of this essay.) And yet normalizing that is precisely what the ‘Teshuvos’ written by one of that Yeshiva’s scholars is attempting to do. From JTA:
Queer yeshiva to publish first-ever collection of Jewish legal opinions written by and for trans Jews.
…a dozen Jewish scholars and rabbis have… scoured Jewish texts for guidance on how transgender Jews can adapt traditional rituals to their lived experience. Now, the group is preparing to release a batch of their essays, analyses of Jewish law called teshuvot, in hopes that they can inform the experiences of trans Jews who seek to live in accordance with traditional Jewish law.
Although well intended, the idea finding ways to live a Halachic transgender life is an oxymoron. It is a non starter. What one does after the fact is not something that cannot be so easily gleaned form the sources. But even if it could, the idea of creating a Halachic guide after doing something that the Torah expressly forbids - suggests that it isn’t forbidden at all. Which of course it is.
Furthermore, I suspect that a lot of these Teshuvos are based on extreme interpretations of the Talmud that are highly unlikely. Much the way the extreme left wing of Modern Orthodoxy interprets the Torah’s comment in Bereishis (2:18) ‘It is not good for man to live alone’ to include 2 gay men living together.
No matter the struggles, one cannot change the forbidden nature of changing one’s sex. If you believe in the God of the bible which is the basis of Orthodoxy, this is is not up for debate. Trying to normalize it does not help matters.
But that does not mean lessening sympathy for what transgender people go though. I do sympathize with transgender Jews that wish to live Halachic lives. But it can’t be by changing ones sex or cross dressing. How they can do that without living a life of despair is a legitimate question. But it is one that I cannot answer. I leave it to people a lot more knowledgeable than I.
One thing should, however, be made absolutely clear. There must never be ridicule. Because that is a serious violation of Halacha which the Talmud considers akin to murder! Understandably so considering the high suicide rate of transgender people. Ridicule might just push them over the edge.