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Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community
***WINNER, 2011 Lambda Literary Award - Transgender Non-Fiction
While the Jewish mainstream still argues about homosexuality, transgender and gender-variant people have emerged as a distinct Jewish population and as a new chorus of voices. Inspired and nurtured by the successes of the feminist and LGBT movements in the Jewish world, Jews who identify with the “T” now sit in the congregation, marry under the chuppah, and create Jewish families. Balancing on the Mechitza offers a multifaceted portrait of this increasingly visible community.
The contributors—activists, theologians, scholars, and other transgender Jews—share for the first time in a printed volume their theoretical contemplations as well as rite-of-passage and other transformative stories. Balancing on the Mechitza introduces readers to a secular transwoman who interviews her Israeli and Palestinian peers and provides cutting-edge theory about the construction of Jewish personhood in Israel; a transman who serves as legal witness for a man (a role not typically open to persons designated female at birth) during a conversion ritual; a man deprived of testosterone by an illness who comes to identify himself with passion and pride as a Biblical eunuch; and a gender-variant person who explores how to adapt the masculine and feminine pronouns in Hebrew to reflect a non-binary gender reality.
While the Jewish mainstream still argues about homosexuality, transgender and gender-variant people have emerged as a distinct Jewish population and as a new chorus of voices. Inspired and nurtured by the successes of the feminist and LGBT movements in the Jewish world, Jews who identify with the “T” now sit in the congregation, marry under the chuppah, and create Jewish families. Balancing on the Mechitza offers a multifaceted portrait of this increasingly visible community.
The contributors—activists, theologians, scholars, and other transgender Jews—share for the first time in a printed volume their theoretical contemplations as well as rite-of-passage and other transformative stories. Balancing on the Mechitza introduces readers to a secular transwoman who interviews her Israeli and Palestinian peers and provides cutting-edge theory about the construction of Jewish personhood in Israel; a transman who serves as legal witness for a man (a role not typically open to persons designated female at birth) during a conversion ritual; a man deprived of testosterone by an illness who comes to identify himself with passion and pride as a Biblical eunuch; and a gender-variant person who explores how to adapt the masculine and feminine pronouns in Hebrew to reflect a non-binary gender reality.
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2010
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562 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 24, 2021
Reading this felt like a step forward and a step back at the same time.
I can't say I was overly impressed with the book. While multiple chapters felt groundbreaking, many others just felt like summary of basic gender/halachic theory, as if they were coddling cis people rather than directly addressing the trans audience the book was [primarily] meant to serve. A lot of the chapters also overlapped in content without bringing any new ideology to the table which contributed to it sometimes feeling too repetitive for my taste.
Overall, I'm still glad to know that a book like this exists as it does help pave the way for future (necessary!!!) discussions of Judaism, gender, and sexuality, and I do feel more knowledgeable having read it.
I can't say I was overly impressed with the book. While multiple chapters felt groundbreaking, many others just felt like summary of basic gender/halachic theory, as if they were coddling cis people rather than directly addressing the trans audience the book was [primarily] meant to serve. A lot of the chapters also overlapped in content without bringing any new ideology to the table which contributed to it sometimes feeling too repetitive for my taste.
Overall, I'm still glad to know that a book like this exists as it does help pave the way for future (necessary!!!) discussions of Judaism, gender, and sexuality, and I do feel more knowledgeable having read it.
March 13, 2016
I haven't read such a collection of personal stories so full of learning, constructive suggestions, and pure hope in a very long time. Anyone, anywhere on the LGBTQ spectrum, in the Jewish community should read this. More importantly, anyone NOT on the LGBTQ spectrum who is in the Jewish community should read this. Dzmura has clearly done his homework, and selected a number of excellent writers from across the range of Judaism, gender expressions, and geographical locations. These are the voices of my friends and of my teachers, and they dearly need to be heard. This is not only recommended reading, in my opinion it should be required.
December 31, 2018
Super interesting and made me think a lot about how gender functions in my own life and community. I'd love to see an updated collection of essays, it's remarkable how much language especially has changed since this was published!
December 14, 2021
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I had one major issue with this entire book, that is the issue of conflating the issues of intersex people and transgender people. The editor of the book does not define what transgender is, but instead uses a few different labels that are not commonly associated with transgender people such as bear (a big hairy gay man). Bears may be transgender, but saying that all bears are or using it as a transgender label is not correct. Also the issue of saying that all intersex people are transgender because of their birth sex. WRONG! There are many groups of intersex people that hate transsexuals and vilify them (not all intersex people vilify transgender or transsexual people, but enough do to create these groups).
Once I was able to get beyond the intersex issue (though almost every author in the last section confuses the two), the book was an interesting look into a religion I knew very little about. The authors help the reader understand what they are talking about by explaining the different practices and the editor does a great job of introducing the pieces in a way that gives them context to people who aren’t Jewish. Overall the book was fascinating, though some pieces were really dry or uninteresting.
I had one particular author I had a problem with (outside of the editor who I had a problem with throughout the book). This author said that sex and gender were the same thing (actually they said that there is no distinction between the two) thus invalidating many identities. I appreciated their arguments, but I could not stand behind someone that does not see sex (biological indicators of maleness or femaleness) and gender (psychological, expression, identity) as different. The group of people the author was discussing were people who did not have a sex and gender that aligned, but they refused to acknowledge that this was an issue (then why would transpeople have any issues if sex and gender were the same thing?). Sort of a sore spot of mine, if you couldn’t tell.
The last bit I will talk about is the way that the authors were able to blend their lives and their views of a very binary gender religion and their own identities was fascinating and I really did appreciate the views of all of the authors (even the ones I did not support or found dry). This book took me days to read as it was not a simple read, but it was one that I am glad I managed to get through.
I had one major issue with this entire book, that is the issue of conflating the issues of intersex people and transgender people. The editor of the book does not define what transgender is, but instead uses a few different labels that are not commonly associated with transgender people such as bear (a big hairy gay man). Bears may be transgender, but saying that all bears are or using it as a transgender label is not correct. Also the issue of saying that all intersex people are transgender because of their birth sex. WRONG! There are many groups of intersex people that hate transsexuals and vilify them (not all intersex people vilify transgender or transsexual people, but enough do to create these groups).
Once I was able to get beyond the intersex issue (though almost every author in the last section confuses the two), the book was an interesting look into a religion I knew very little about. The authors help the reader understand what they are talking about by explaining the different practices and the editor does a great job of introducing the pieces in a way that gives them context to people who aren’t Jewish. Overall the book was fascinating, though some pieces were really dry or uninteresting.
I had one particular author I had a problem with (outside of the editor who I had a problem with throughout the book). This author said that sex and gender were the same thing (actually they said that there is no distinction between the two) thus invalidating many identities. I appreciated their arguments, but I could not stand behind someone that does not see sex (biological indicators of maleness or femaleness) and gender (psychological, expression, identity) as different. The group of people the author was discussing were people who did not have a sex and gender that aligned, but they refused to acknowledge that this was an issue (then why would transpeople have any issues if sex and gender were the same thing?). Sort of a sore spot of mine, if you couldn’t tell.
The last bit I will talk about is the way that the authors were able to blend their lives and their views of a very binary gender religion and their own identities was fascinating and I really did appreciate the views of all of the authors (even the ones I did not support or found dry). This book took me days to read as it was not a simple read, but it was one that I am glad I managed to get through.
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June 13, 2021This book is such a time capsule of a time in the public discourse that was more recent than I thought (2009-11). I have a number of divergent thoughts about it. One - I know many of the authors either personally or through later and more developed work, and I'm so grateful to them for paving the way for me to exist. Two - the number of different things this collection is doing is too many, and I frankly could have done without some of the cis contributions (Things I Learned About Spirituality from Transsexuals? Really?). Three - the divergence in between more academic apporaches, more lived-halachic approaches, and more liberal/interpretive approaches was fascinating but under defined/structured within the book. Four - I was amazed and not always in a good way by some of the feminist writing included here, but it definitely gives context I didn't previously have to the diverging paths of TERFism and what I consider feminism to be. Five - I am SO excited to read the next version of this book in the wake of the just-beginning trans halakha project. Laynie Soloman's framaing of dysphoric and euphoric halacha felt incredibly present throughout this collection, sadly but predominantly in giving me language to name dysphoric halacha.
Overall I guess I didn't expect this to feel so dated, but I'm glad I read it for that same reason.
Overall I guess I didn't expect this to feel so dated, but I'm glad I read it for that same reason.
February 9, 2024
This book had three big sections, and two of them were good. It talked about Jewish community, Jewish rites, and Jewish beliefs as regards transgender people. It was written some autobiographical by trans Jews and some by rabbis looking through the Torah for clues as to what we should think about Trans people. Although it acknowledges at one point that the Orthodox are not in favor of trans rights, the book is very trans positive and talks about how we have the opportunity to expand our beliefs in order to include more people. One of the most memorable essays discusses whether men can wash a trans-masculine body for a funeral, but it doesn't come to a conclusion. Anyway, the sections on community and rituals were good but the section on Torah was less good, probably because there isn't much positive in there about what is a very modern issue. Overall I'd probably give this 3.5 stars, because although it started out strong, it went on far too long and eventually got repetitive.
August 26, 2024
I have some criticisms of the book that would be far more salient if there were any other essay collections written by orthodox transgender jews (in many ways this book feels like it was written for the oblivious yet open cisgender jew rather than the demographic is it about.) As things stand, I think this is a really compelling collection which is educational, looks at certain scripture in a new and interesting light, and tells the stories of the personal journeys of many trans jews. I think everyone can get something out of this book.
July 23, 2024
This is a really fantastic collection. I enjoyed the first two sections more than the third; I wasn't as interested in the slightly more impersonal academic discussions as in the personal stories. Lynn Greenhough and Aaron Devor's essays especially spoke to me, in ways I didn't expect. It would be interesting to see some of these authors revisit their essays in the aftermath of the changing sociopolitical landscape of the last fifteen years.
June 20, 2023
Simply an amazing book that gives so many insights to what it means to be both transgender and Jewish. i applaud the many authors of this book and the intimate insights to their journey through gender.
December 8, 2023
my particular favorite essays are Queering the Jew and Jewing the Queer, Hearing beneath the Surface: Crossing Gender Boundaries at the Ari Mikveh, Intersexed Bodies in Mishnah: A Translation and an Activist’s Reading of Mishnah Androgynos, and Born to Be Wild: A Critique of Determinism
October 20, 2019
Hard to rate. Contains some really good writing and ritual, and also pieces by cis people titled "what i learned about spirituality from transsexuals"
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April 11, 2011This diverse anthology includes moving reflections on family by Jhos Singer and Joy Ladin and analysis of halacha by Beth Orens. Full disclosure: an essay of mine, originally published in Zeek, is reprinted here. Chav Doherty, Eliron Hamburger, Noach Dzmura, and I will be reading from the book at the synagogue Chochmat HaLev in San Francisco on May 26, 2011. (See http://www.chochmat.org/calendar.html) The anthology is a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award; the award will be announced in New York City just before the reading begins in San Francisco. It will feel like we're on American Idol! In temple! Come share the moment if you're around!
February 21, 2013
"The" Jewish community? Come on...
This was a worthwhile read but I think a lot of the authors made claims that are a stretch and misattributed liberal attitudes. I appreciate the translation of mishna adrogynous because it made me go and read the mishna, but the translation was at some points opposite of the actual meaning.
This was a worthwhile read but I think a lot of the authors made claims that are a stretch and misattributed liberal attitudes. I appreciate the translation of mishna adrogynous because it made me go and read the mishna, but the translation was at some points opposite of the actual meaning.
Want to read
August 24, 2010A portion of Jhos Singer's essay "Transparent on High" was recently posted on Killing the Buddha (http://killingthebuddha.com/) it looks amazing.
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February 13, 2015296.0866 B1716 2010
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews