Reform Judaism Now the U.S.A's Most Trans-Inclusive Religious Group
November 5, 2015 11:31 AM   Subscribe

Today, the Union of Reform Judaism, the body that represents synagogues in the Reform movement —Judaism's largest U.S. branch — unanimously passed the most far-reaching resolution on transgender rights of any major religious organization. The resolution affirms the equality of transgender people and welcomes them into congregations, camps and other Reform Jewish institutions.

"The resolution calls for Reform Jewish congregations and camps to have gender-neutral bathrooms, encourages gender-neutral language at Reform Jewish institutions, suggests training on gender issues for religious school staff and encourages advocating on behalf of the transgender community."

"The URJ is a loose network and organizing body for Reform synagogues, so it hasn’t mandated that local communities to adopt these measures. But it’s a strong signal to the Jewish community: At least in our temples, the URJ says, transgender people will be fully welcome and accommodated."

Additional reporting from the Associated Press, Reuters and the New York Times
--
This past July, The Jewish Daily Forward profiled six rabbis and rabbinical students who identify as transgender ("First Generation of Transgender Rabbis Claims Place at Bimah"), including two who were ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the seminary of the Reform Jewish Movement. Also from the Forward: "New Generation of Transgender Rabbis Ties Jewish Practice and Gender Change"
posted by zarq (30 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
Yay us!!!!!
posted by leesh at 11:31 AM on November 5, 2015 [16 favorites]


Yay you!!!!
posted by desjardins at 11:34 AM on November 5, 2015 [13 favorites]


I know two of those profiled rabbis—though, n.b., that story is from 2013.
posted by listen, lady at 11:37 AM on November 5, 2015


listen, lady: You're right! Sorry about that. Must have misread the date.
posted by zarq at 11:38 AM on November 5, 2015


L'Chaim.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:38 AM on November 5, 2015


Unitarian Universalism is doing a pretty good job as well. (I didn't know this until I checked, but my gut instinct was borne out)
posted by el io at 11:48 AM on November 5, 2015 [11 favorites]


Oh man, Emily Aviva Kapor is super cool. I was hoping for a longer profile, but it's neat that she's getting attention even still.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:51 AM on November 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


I was about to say the same thing, el io. I guess it depends on how you define "major" religious group.

(As someone who was raised UU, yay!)
posted by brundlefly at 11:54 AM on November 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


oh, ha, my work is included in that UU Transfiguring Congregations curriculum.
posted by listen, lady at 11:59 AM on November 5, 2015 [4 favorites]


A good start! Hopefully, one day, all faiths will be as gender-inclusive.
posted by SansPoint at 12:00 PM on November 5, 2015


Yasher koach!
posted by benito.strauss at 12:12 PM on November 5, 2015 [6 favorites]


Hooray! A delegation from my shul was there, taking part in that unanimous vote. I'm so proud of them.
posted by Dreadnought at 12:16 PM on November 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Awesome! Emily Aviva Kapor is one of my personal heroes. Here's her post from the past Purim on Vashti, just because.
posted by thetortoise at 12:17 PM on November 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


Favorite.
posted by Stynxno at 12:18 PM on November 5, 2015


I was raised in the Reform tradition, but, when I was a boy, didn't really understand what made it distinct, except that we weren't obligated to do many of the commandments Jews in other traditions did.

I went to an Orthodox high school, and one day invited my synagogues head rabbi to speak about Reform. He explained that Reform focuses on Judaism differently, that the tradition looks to the books of the Prophets. The Prophets, he explained, repeatedly insisted that ritual behavior was empty without ethical actions, and so Reform attempts to understand what Jewish ethics mean in a contemporary context.

And I realized this was true, and had been the background soundtrack of much of my life. In Reform synagogues, you frequently see the words "Justice, justice shall you pursue" from Deuteronomy 16:20, and the rabbi's sermons were almost always on the subject of social justice. The Reform Passover Haggadah repeatedly stresses the idea that we should especially be sensitive to the downtrodden, because we were once slaves and later strangers in a new land.

I am not religious -- in fact, I am an atheist. But I do see myself as culturally Jewish, and still think the ethics I was raised with are important and worth constantly revisiting.

As it happens, the rabbi in the story was gay, but closeted and married, which ended badly for him. He was not stripped of being a rabbi, though, and Reform found a place for him, and less than a decade later the Reform movement had accepted gay rabbis and the same Temple had an openly gay assistant rabbi.

With social justice, I always feel like whatever happens is too late. Reform accepting gay rabbis felt too late, because it was too late for my rabbi. Accepting the trans experience feels too late, because it's 2015, and we should have gotten to this by now.

But I'm still happy it happened, and still glad that we're at least ahead of the curve. We don't always live up to our ideals, but I like to think that we eventually do.
posted by maxsparber at 12:22 PM on November 5, 2015 [38 favorites]


Hopefully the Conservative* movement follows suit; apparently, there are some rumblings in that direction, see here:

In 2006, a halachic treatise in the Conservative movement concluded that reassignment surgery in fact changes one’s halachic status from one gender to the other. Rabbi Len Sharzer, a professor of bioethics at the Jewish Theological Seminary who was a plastic surgeon before he became a rabbi, said he hopes to present a new halachic treatise, or teshuvah, by early 2016 that will expand that recognition to include transgender people who have not had surgery, as many opt not to have the highly invasive and imperfect procedures.


But, of course, the track record on LGBT+ rights has been a bit spotty, due to the Conservative movement being a lot less monolithic than the Reform movement. Matters are decided by a panel of rabbis, and rabbis can support more than one ruling, which means that multiple rulings can have a majority, and individual rabbis can pick which one they chose to follow. That happened with same sex marriage (with one ruling for, and another, against); it could well also happen with something like this.

(*Note that "Conservative" here is slightly misleading; "Conservative" refers to level of traditional observance, not political leanings)
posted by damayanti at 12:33 PM on November 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


I would have bet my last shekel the UU's were up to speed on this as well. Surprisingly, Reform Judaism and the UUA have almost the same membership numbers in the US, between 600k to 700k...
posted by jim in austin at 12:35 PM on November 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


jim in Austin, the Union for Reform Judaism says they represent 900 congregations with 1.5 million members.
posted by zarq at 12:39 PM on November 5, 2015


zarq: I went with the Wikipedia demographics for North America...
posted by jim in austin at 12:44 PM on November 5, 2015


Ah. :)
posted by zarq at 12:46 PM on November 5, 2015


This is great, but the reform temples at least in my area are still way too conservative on a lot of issues so I don't think I'll ever join one.
posted by miyabo at 1:20 PM on November 5, 2015


Well ... I certainly picked the wrong time to become an atheist...
posted by AGameOfMoans at 2:13 PM on November 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


If I can kvell a bit, my-brother-the-rabbi is at the URJ Biennial and voted for this :)
posted by mosk at 2:47 PM on November 5, 2015 [6 favorites]


A fact check suggests that while the Reform Movement has made significant progress they are not the most inclusive or the first. The Unitarians embraced LGBT rights in 1973. The Welcoming Congregation program was established in 1987 and has long included the principles outlined above and more.
posted by humanfont at 7:14 PM on November 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


Yeah, yeah ... the Unitarians.... but they can't make a Brisket to save their lives !
posted by AGameOfMoans at 11:21 PM on November 5, 2015 [5 favorites]


The MCC has been LGBT inclusive for longer than Reform as well, what with having been established to be inclusive.

Still, way to go us!
posted by jb at 6:10 AM on November 6, 2015


Wow. I just searched mefi to find the answer to a question my daughter just asked me prior to posting this on the green. This is so salient.

Can anyone help with this conversation from dinner tonight?

LittleTaff (9 years) :"Only trans people can say if they're in the wrong body, isn't that right?"

Me:"Yes, we listen to trans* people and they tell us. Bodies don't tell us a person's gender. The person does."

LittleTaff:"Hmmmm. So if a trans woman was Jewish, would her babies be Jewish if she used her seed?"

Me:"...."


Any suggestions how to find an edict somewhere? I spluttered and said hopeful things but I'd like to say categorically something.
posted by taff at 8:20 AM on November 8, 2015


I just started working at the URJ in September and I was at my first Biennial when this vote happened.

They also announced at one of my panels that it was the first time an Arab Israeli addressed the Biennial.
posted by andoatnp at 1:32 PM on November 8, 2015


Reform and liberal branches of Judaism consider having either parent enough to be Jewish from birth.
posted by humanfont at 2:02 PM on November 8, 2015 [3 favorites]


Reform and liberal branches of Judaism consider having either parent enough to be Jewish from birth.

Except in Canada, where the Reform community continues to only accept matrilineal descent; patrilineal Jews have to go through conversion.

They say it's to stay in step with the Conservative and Orthodox communities, as they are closer here. But that is pointless, since the Orthodox certainly won't accept a Reform convert.

Instead, they are now out of step with the rest of the world -- and I actually know someone who had a bat mitzvah, whose mother had a bat mitzvah, who has always considered herself Jewish, but who may be forced to go to the mikvah to "convert", because her grandmother (mother's mother) wasn't Jewish. She's said she'll refuse if they may her change her name to bat Sarah v'Avraham.
posted by jb at 8:11 PM on November 8, 2015


« Older Treasure chest   |   "Mature minors" Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments