Jewish Progress Pride flag, from Keshet!
Anonymous asked:
Do you know if there's any Hebrew/Yiddish terms for trans and nonbinary? I know there's a few from the traditional eight genders, but I don't feel comfortable using them since they're more intersex specific, and I'm not intersex myself. Thank you in advance
There's a list of Yiddish trans/nonbinary terms!
I don't have a list on hand for Hebrew, so hopefully my followers (particularly those who are Israeli) can help out.
You're right that what some people call Talmudic "genders" are actually sexes.
A Trans Woman's Prayer Before Laser Hair Removal
Oh God, oh God! It is narrow for me! In the might of your Face's anger you shaped me with a beard that blocks the flow of my lifeforce. Sustain in me the spirit to know the secrets of the Expansion of your Face... to realize the revelation of the beauty of this body, in which You have desired to make Your Presence dwell. Establish in me the concealment of my beard, and I will find blessings, as it is written: "It is taught that when these two apples are revealed... all worlds are happy and complete with all completeness, and everything is happy and shining." Pour the good oil upon my head, and I will make your goodness flow to your creations. May the desire exist.
El! God! Tzar li m'od. Bigvurat apecha y'tzartani im zakan shesotem et shefa chayai. T'kayem bi ruach l'da'at sodot orech-panecha, u'l'kayem otam b'gilui hadrat haguf hazeh sheratzita l'shaken sh'shinat'cha b'tocho. Taken na bi hester z'kani v'emtza b'racha dichtiv "tanya, kad etgalyan tarin tapuchin alin vachol almin chadan v'shelimin m'chol sh'limuta." Tarik shemen hatov al roshi v'ashpia tuvcha l'viotecha. Ken yehi ratzon.
Alexandra Rayzel the Priestess, aka Lexi Kohanski
This is an abbreviated form of the bracha, the full text is here.
Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. (Genesis 32:23-25)
Said he, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human and you have prevailed." Jacob asked, "Pray tell me your name." But he said "You must not ask my name!" And he took leave of him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, meaning "I have seen a divine being face to face, yet my life has been preserved." (Genesis 32:29-31)
It was a moonless night. The sky was strewn with stars. I built myself a small fire. It cast a tiny flickering pool of light around me that quickly vanished in the darkness.
I didn't see him; nor did I hear him approach. Suddenly he was standing across the fire from me, hands on his hips, looking down at me as I sat on the hard dry earth. The wood was crackling. The air was cold. His face was dark and expressionless, but he was staring at me as if he knew me.
"Peace be to you," I said to him. He said nothing back, just stepped closer. It was only then that I saw his wings. They were vast, like the fringed shawl of the holy one, dark, dark as his skin, dark as the night that births new mornings. He opened them wide and stepped over the fire. I stood, my legs shaking.
My heart was beating furiously. I was sure that he could hear it in the silence. I wanted to run but I was frozen in that spot. He stepped close, reached out and placed his hands on my shoulders. And he looked down into my eyes as if they were two wells empty of water, till his gaze had penetrated to my very heart, filling it to overflowing. Then he opened his wings, further than I would have thought possible, and wrapped then around me, pulling me closer. And he wrapped his arms around my back, so that my chest was pressed flat against his chest. And I felt myself vanishing in his embrace, like a stream that washes into a river, as we stood chest to chest, belly to belly, thigh to thigh.
He leaned down and kissed me. I opened my lips to him. And so it was, all night, that the two of us grappled on the ground, a man and an angel, his wings and his arms wrapped around me. We battled and made love till the sky began to lighten, when he pressed me to the earth and entered me. Wrenched apart and then pushed into bliss, he filled me with light. Then, bathed in the waters of my flesh, we curled together by the remains of the fire, breathing softly together.
I asked him his name. He would not tell me. I asked him for a blessing. He said, with a grin, "Wasn't this blessing enough for you?" I looked away, ashamed, for he was right. But he lifted my chin with his hands, smiling. Then he kissed me again. I stroked his back, feeling the way that his wings grew out of it. I caressed his face, looked him deep in those dark dark eyes again. Then my arms were empty and he was gone, just as suddenly as he had appeared. And I was alone again.
Maggid Elias Ramer, Queering the Text
The Sefirot are a map of the structure of existence. The first one, which all the other ones come from, is Ratzon, which means desire. Ratzon is like the spiritual big bang. It's the first thing that, when it came into existence, the whole universe and all the worlds in it did. And what that means is that when God wanted to exist, the world was created.
In "On Liking Women," Andrea Long Chu talks about how transition is so much about desire and about wanting things. What I'm doing as a trans person is committing to desire. And Kabbalistically, that means something really specific and really amazing.
By letting my desire create me, instead of my identity, I am in sync with the entire universe which is created not by what it is but by the will of God. So the next time dysphoria tries to tell you that you're not real, you tell dysphoria that there is no existence except through desire and that our pursuit of that yearning is what makes us sacred.
Because Hebrew is a gendered language, the Nonbinary Hebrew Project has created a third grammatical gender system! They are building a bigger tent for nonbinary Jews, guided by Torah and Talmud which teach us to rejoice that which cannot be neatly categorized.
The project is free, open-source, community-based, and grassroots. It lives and grows and changes with every single person who uses and adds to it.
Here are some example usages: Candlelighting Blessing: with gender-expansive God language
בְּרוּךֶ אָתֶה ײַ, אֱלֹהִימוֹתֵינוּ מַלְכֶּת הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְשֶׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיהֶ וְצִוֶנוּ לְהַדְלִיק נֵר שֶׁל שַבָּת
Bruche ateh Adonai, Elohimoteinu Malket ha’Olam asher kidshenu b’mitzvoteihe, v’tzivenu l’hadlik ner shel Shabbat. Blessed are You, God, Ruler of the universe, who sanctified us with the commandment of lighting Shabbat candles.
~~~
Kiddush: with gender-expansive God language
בְּרוּךֶ אָתֶה ײַ, אֱלֹהִימוֹתֵינוּ מַלְכֶּת הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרָאת פְּרִי הַגָּֽפֶן
Bruche ateh Adonai, Elohimoteinu Malket ha’Olam, borat p’ri hagafen. Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.
~~~
Blessing over Bread: with gender-expansive God language
בְּרוּךֶ אָתֶה ײַ, אֱלֹהִימוֹתֵינוּ מַלְכֶּת הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיאֶה לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ
Bruche ateh Adonai, Elohimoteinu Malket ha’Olam, Hamotzi'e lechem min ha'aretz. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has brought forth bread from the earth.
~~~
Waking-up Blessing: with gender-expansive language for the speaker, but traditional God language
מודֶת אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם, שֶׁהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ:
Modet ani l'fanecha, melech chai v'kayam, shechezarta bi nishmati, b'chemla, raba emunatecha.
I give thanks before you, King living and eternal, for You have returned within me my soul with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness!
~~~
Morning Blessing substitutions: with gender-expansive language for the speaker, but traditional God language
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁעָשַׂנִי בֶּת חוֹרין
Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-Olam, she-asani bet chorin.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has made me free. ~~~
Soulmate Blessing: written by Ariel Ezekiel Tovlev, with gender-expansive language for the speaker's soulmate, but traditional God language
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֶת יְדִידֶת נַפְשִׁי
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, asher asah et yedidet nafshi. Blessed are You, Ruler of the Universe, who created the companion of my soul.
~~~
Wedding-Enacting Words: with gender-expansive language for the one the speaker is marrying and for the ring, but traditional God language
הרי אתה מקדשה לי, בטבעת זת, כדת משה וישראל
Harei ateh m’kudesheh li, b’tabaet zet, k’dat Moshe v’Yisrael.
Behold, you are sanctified to me, with this ring, according to Moses and Israel. ~~~ For more examples, as well as charts explaining the grammar system, check out the website! A note from Jewish-LGBTQ: The Nonbinary Hebrew Project is primarily being created in the diaspora and is used for ritual purposes; queer communities in Israel have their own system for creating gender-expansive Hebrew. The Nonbinary Hebrew Project should be understood as creating a third grammatical gender for liturgical and ritual Hebrew, rather than for everyday, spoken Modern Hebrew.
A Blessing for Anonymous Sex
In the dark, in a strange place, our father Jacob encountered a stranger with whom he grappled all night. He never knew the stranger’s name, yet their encounter was a blessing, which turned Jacob into Israel and made him realize I have seen God face-to-face. (Genesis 32:31)
May this intimate time with another person be an encounter with angels that allows us to both touch and see the Divine. In the name of the God of Israel, who created passion and wove it throughout creation, turning strange places into holy ground and strangers into a source of blessing.
Maggid Elias Ramer
From SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva:
The Rabbis teach us that in order to be a player—someone who shapes the tradition—you need two things: 1) gemirna, deep learning 2) sevirna, moral intuition This fall, drop into some ✨ GEMIRNA WORKSHOPS ✨ designed to help you get your gemirna as you become a player! Join us Thursdays, November 4th & 11th 7:00-8:30 PM ET | 6:00-7:30 PM CT | 5:00-6:30 PM PT. Here's our glittery lineup:
✨THE JASTROW DICTIONARY: A COMPREHENSIVE TOUR ✨ on November 4 with SVARA Fellow Binya Kóatz Translating Talmud got you stumped? Join SVARA Fellow Binya Kóatz for a tour of the Jastrow dictionary that will give you some tips and tricks for how to look up a word and decode all of the goodies that can help you get the most glittery definitions of your words.
✨ BINYAN BASICS DRESSING UP OUR ROOTS: ✨ on November 11 with SVARA Learning Coordinator & Fellow Amir Weg Hifil, Pu’al, and Piel, oh my! What is a BINYAN and how can it help you as you’re digging into Talmud learning and beyond? As we know, Hebrew has this phenomenon of ROOTS—those delicious, usually three-letter kernels of meaning we encounter when we go word by word! We turn Hebrew roots into verbs by putting on one of seven outfits (patterns of prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and vowels) called BINYANIM, which transform the meaning of the root in characteristic ways. Whether it’s your first encounter with binyanim or you’re coming back for some re-grounding, come learn how to play grammar dress-up and get to know how this grammatical system works!
Come for one or both of these standalone sessions!
✨ LEARN MORE & REGISTER ✨ - Link in reblog!
✨ ACCESS: All you need is your alef-bet! All sessions will be live-captioned.
Jewlia Eisenberg, leader of the band Charming Hostess, had been commissioned to create an immersive musical and visual installation inspired by “Song of Songs” at The Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) in San Francisco. That project was halted when Jewlia passed away in March of 2021. The CJM and The Creative Work Fund have graciously allowed the work to continue in her honor.
Jewlia was excited by “Song of Songs” because of its sensuality and the clear importance of an autonomous female voice and experience. In the text she saw an implicit critique of patriarchy, gender boundaries, and of boundaries between living things. In our time together we will unpack these ideas and others.
There are three sessions (it was unclear whether these are repeats or whether it's a 3-session class, but I believe it's the former) - Sunday October 24, Sunday November 21st, and Sunday December 19th.
Starring Rachel Sennott as Hannah Rosen, a boy crazy senior in high school, and Madeline Grey DeFreece as her best friend, Carrie Lowstein, the film takes place at the funeral for the friends’ former Hebrew school classmate Samantha Goldstein, who died by suicide. After being pressured to practice kissing in the synagogue bathroom before their Hebrew school lesson on processing grief through faith, Carrie realizes she might be in love with Hannah. A queer coming of age story, Tahara explores teenage lust, friendship, and death, all through a Jewish lens.
Abby Stein’s Hasidic community in Williamsburg believed that, as a 10th generation of the Baal Shem Tov, she was destined to be a rabbinic leader. They also believed she was a boy. But Abby felt certain at a young age that she was a girl, and eventually orchestrated a personal exodus from ultra-Orthodox manhood to mainstream femininity—a radical choice that forced her to leave her home, her family, her way of life. Less than five years later, she is a sought-after speaker and prominent activist for gender equality, serving on the steering committee for the 2019 Women’s March. Her book, Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman is out in November, and you can preorder it here!
[Tweet by Claire Schwartz containing a photograph and the caption “Two Jewish women kiss through a fence in the Lodz Ghetto, Poland. (Photograph by Mendel Grossman, Lodz Ghetto photographer who was murdered by Nazis during a death march in 1945. He was still holding his camera.]