Liberating Gender for Jews and Allies

Book excerpt: This extraordinary collection of essays by trans Jews and allies explores cutting-edge ideas about gender through the lenses of tradition, art, autobiography, and solidarity. It features an analysis of Biblical and Rabbinic thinking, sample rituals, guidance on Jewish practice, spoken word poetry, music, trans Jewish history, psychology, and personal stories. The contributing voices are richly diverse and include transpioneer Kate Bornstein, a drag queen rabbi, Jews by Choice, Jews of Color, the Jewish consultant to the show Transparent, Orthodox Jews, a Jewish priestess, and a Metropolitan Community Church minister. Each page reveals startling, fresh insights into the construction and disruption of gender from a Jewish perspective.