It’s almost Purim, so it’s time to share this 1845 article about two Jewish drag kings/crossdressers/trans men. I love these two and I want to be their best friend.

I have no idea why Purim is referred to as the ‘Ram’s Head Festival’; it’s not named but I’m 99% sure this is about Purim based on the date and the description (the masks, and the long-established tradition of crossdressing on Purim). Maybe they got it confused with Rosh Hashanah and it’s an oblique reference to a shofar?

Absolutely incredible use of the passive voice: ‘During their scuffle with the policemen, the fair daughters of Israel were relieved of their gold bracelets and several articles of rich jewellery.’ Relieved by whom? Who can say? I’m very proud of these funky fresh boys for beating the shit out of at least one cop.

a gut vokh and shavua tov to trans jews and those who love us!

Today, SVARA's Trans Halakha Project released two incredible bodies of work: the first iteration of their Teshuvot and Tefillat Trans: Blessings and Rituals for Trans Lives. Read them, share them, save them for later, and know in your heart that you are not alone.

This is a HUGE moment in Jewish history where Trans-centered Torah is being actively cultivated by and for trans Jews. Ancestors of blessed memory like Rabbi Yochanan, Qalonymos ben Qalonymos, Berel-Beyle, Magnus Hirschfeld, and Leslie Feinberg have paved the way for us to be embracing our full selves as authorities in this tradition, not outsiders.

Trans lives are worth living. Trans wisdom is worth celebrating. Trans Jews are worth loving.

We are full members of our communities, and any Judaism that claims otherwise is incomplete.

I love Judaism and I love queerness and I love queer Judaism thank you for your time

EVERYONE!! GO CHECK OUT THIS NEW BOOK ON THE VARIOUS GENDERS FOUND IN TALMUD!!

Trans Talmud places eunuchs and androgynes at the center of rabbinic literature and asks what we can learn from them about Judaism and the project of transgender history. Rather than treating these figures as anomalies to be justified or explained away, Max K. Strassfeld argues that they profoundly shaped ideas about law, as the rabbis constructed intricate taxonomies of gender across dozens of texts to understand an array of cultural tensions.

Showing how rabbis employed eunuchs and androgynes to define proper forms of masculinity, Strassfeld emphasizes the unique potential of these figures to not only establish the boundary of law but exceed and transform it. Trans Talmud challenges how we understand gender in Judaism and demonstrates that acknowledging nonbinary gender prompts a reassessment of Jewish literature and law.

Yknow theres something fucking infuriating about having to struggle for years with the relationship between my queer identity and my jewish identity just for Tumblr leftists uwu that have never read a single word from the torah to go all "actually Judaism is super gay lmao". Like. There is queerness in Jewish texts. There are queer interpretations of judaism. But seeing my struggle with the homophobia and transphobia that also exist in judaism and are the commonly accepted interpretations in the orthodox community be erased by a bunch of goyim that only heard about Jewish queerness through tiktok fucking hurts. To my non Jewish followers: I hope you all have a very pleasant shut up about stuff you don't understand.

K thanks

the number of parallels between transitioning and the conversion process in judaism are insane to me. I feel like that’s probably a part of why judaism (including many orthodox communities) is so accepting of trans people compared to other religious movements. just. so interesting

hello all! on this Trans Day of Visibility, i'm so pleased to announce the release of the full Volume I of Siddur Davar Ḥadash, an attempt to imagine a de-gendered, de-stigmatized Jewish liturgy for Shabbat and Festivals. this full release includes the full morning and afternoon liturgies in addition to the previously available evening service, and all Hebrew prayers are fully transliterated and translated into English. the siddur is freely available as a PDF, HTML page, and plaintext file; click on over and check it out if it seems like something you'd be into!

quick shout out to aro Muslims and aro Jews!! you're brilliant, amazing, stunning, wonderful, awesome, and so so fucking cool!! have a good day!!!

edit: ZIONISTS & PROSHIP DNI

Schlissel challah 🗝

Baking challah in the shape of a key (schlissel meaning key in Yiddish) is an Ashkenazi tradition the Shabbat after Pesach, and is said to represent the key to the promised land. I’m usually team poppyseed but sesame seeds are traditional for schlissel challah, because they are supposed to resemble the manna we ate in the desert.

I couldn’t find a technique I liked so I just made one up- I did a 5-strand braid for the stem, and a standard 3-strand for the teeth and the head.

Hope everybody had a wonderful chag!

Shana tovah to multigender Jews :D

some lighthearted news in the midst of all this hate:

I am a jewish trans man. I had my top surgery a few years ago, and my very old, very jewish grandparents gave me some money to help me pay for it.

I've finally managed to get a consultation for my bottom surgery, and I have a (tentative) date, and when my (again, very old, very jewish) grandparents found out, they say me down and we had a nice (albeit slightly awkward) conversation about phalloplasty and what exactly that is.

long story short: my grandparents are willing to gift me a significant portion of my surgery cost on the condition that...

...my new penis doesn't have a foreskin.

Oh my god that's fantastic

I love interreligious relationships so much

I just love the idea of someone you can easily talk with for hours about theology, unafraid of judgement because you already know where your beliefs differ

Plus, an excuse to throw more than one wedding 💕

Original collage by me, all photography by me.

Image ID under cut

[ID: Collage of photos of grass and foliage with a quote over it. The quote reads: "G-d blessed me by making me transexual for the same reason G-d made wheat but not bread and fruit but not wine, so that humanity might share in the act of creation"]

The REVOLUTION of the VANGUARD OF THE MAHDI is for ALL downtrodden and oppressed. It is for the outcast, the marginalized and subjugated, whether the masses personally feel an affinity for them or not. For centuries these matters have been concealed by lying translators and religious leaders who decide for us what they want the Torah and Qur’an to mean, rather than what the texts actually say in black and white. But now the Truth has been hurled at falsehood, smashing and shattering it, until the Truth has finally shined through (بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَى الْبَاطِلِ فَيَدْمَغُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ زَاهِقٌ ۚ وَلَكُمُ الْوَيْلُ مِمَّا تَصِفُونَ) – Truth has come and falsehood has vanished, for truly, falsehood is an inevitably vanishing thing (وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ ۚ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا).

Some frum things that I think are kind of queer:

chavrusas

Bais Yaakov plays and other all-female productions

Mechitzas

The men's mikvah

Camp Sternberg

Purim shpiels

Eating black and white cookies