The Transitioning of Jewish Biomedical Law: Rhetorical and Practical Shifts in Halakhic Discourse on Sex-Change Surgery

Abstract

This article examines discourse dynamics in Jewish law on sex-change surgery (SCS) and, in general, transitioning between genders. Orthodox medical ethics has moved beyond the abstract condemnation of SCS to the design of practical rules for transsexuals living in observant communities. The reasoning against SCS has also shifted, both in complexity and with implicit ties to Christian and secular tropes. By medicalizing or, conversely, spiritualizing the experiences of transgendered persons, a few Orthodox authors are opening up interpretive space for sympathetic responses to SCS. Such transitions reach their most elaborate expression in Israeli Orthodox rabbi Edan ben Ephraim's 2004 monograph, Generation of Perversions, which has taken center stage in Orthodox deliberations on transsexuality. Overall, halakhic discourse seems to be moving in innovative, unavoidably interdiscursive directions.

Queering Eve: Imagining Transgender Acceptance in Orthodox Judaism

“…14 Orthodox responsa first condemned sex-change surgeries for transgender-identifying Jews in the 1970s and its views have remained the same since. 15 Orthodox Judaism is heterogeneous and decentralized, however, Orthodox denominations largely share in their opposition to transgender identity.…”

“…Orthodox Judaism treats the body as a near extension of the spirit, and accordingly cosmetic procedures like sex-change surgery may be viewed as selfmutilation and fall under the prohibition of self-wounding, hovel b'atzmo. 21 Thirdly, the sexual relations of transgender individuals, especially transgender women, may not be seen as permissible. For those who have not undergone sex-change surgery, their gender is associated with their sex; certain partnerships therefore, may be viewed by Orthodox Judaism as homosexual intercourse, which is prohibited in Leviticus 18:22.…”

“…This poses an especially difficult challenge for non-binary and FtM (female to male) transgender individuals who are less likely to undergo any form of sex-change surgery. 27 However, some Modern Orthodox rabbis have begun to address this issue, according to Aaron Devor:…”

“…The ban on castration, however, as Rabbi Ben-Ephraim points out, is not applicable for FtM transgender individuals: Furthermore, Ben-Ephraim shows that the strongest legal rationale for a clear-cut ban on SCS, the biblical prohibition of castration, applies differently to women, who are not punished for what the rabbis consider the female equivalent of castration-a nuance that had already drawn attention. 31 For those who would need their testicles removed during surgery, Rabbi Steven Dansky offers a solution. Rav Waldenberg argued that the ban on castration was only for individuals who are able to reproduce.…”