It's important to delineate for this discussion between sex and gender, because a blurred line is not conducive to the kinds of discussions we want to have in this session. The rabbis dealt primarily with gender.

People that want to argue about the definition of biological sex usually lead with chromosomes, but in sexually reproducing, anisogamous species, we distinguish that by the size of gametes (that's what anisogamous means). Large gamete/small gamete differences hold up across almost all sexually reproducing species. People who ask "what is a woman?" as some kind of gotcha question are really asking, "what size gametes should you be biologically producing?" whether they know it or not...

In traditional rabbinic Judaism, gender roles—not "sex"—in halachah were based on perceived differences in a gender binary, and yes, that includes reproductive functions, but not exclusively. And yet, there was a recognition, as early as the Mishnah in the 3rd century CE, that our understanding of gender exceeds the binary.

Let's start with some terms that appear frequently in our text:

tumtum - a person with no distinguishable genitalia

androgynos - a person with both sets of external genitalia

Following are some passages from the Mishnah, one that mentions the tumtum and angrogynos (bolded when they appear) with regard to pilgrimage festivals and obligations, and where the definition is further fleshed out.

The definition continues in Mishnah Bikkurim:

aylonit - a "sexually underdeveloped woman," defined elsewhere as not having pubic hair by the time she is 20 or having male characteristics. Even our original Torah matriarch is not spared this definition:

sris - this is one that is used interchangeably with one who is castrated, but also possibly a male with possible testosterone deficiencies, like no facial hair and a higher voice.

For non-Orthodox Jews, these definitions often give us a reason to believe there is a place for nonbinary in our traditions.[1]

Some modern scholars say the androgynos IS our nonbinary category. For others more familiar with the texts, their contexts, and their applications over the centuries, it's obvious they do not correlate to how we are thinking of it today—at least not directly.

When liberal movements, and let's include Modern Orthodox practices that include female ordination in this, moved away from the gender binary in performance of the mitzvot, do we still also need the binary definitions of gender anymore?

The Reform and Conservative Movements both have strong resolutions affirming transgender rights.

Hebrew is a gendered language, and it is not lonely. Hindi, Arabic, Spanish, French are the world's most spoken gendered languages, so it's not a challenge we face alone.

Camp Galil, a Habonim Dror program in Pennsylvania, worked with Keshet, Moving Traditions, and Transplaining to train staff and a few years ago, removed gendered Hebrew from its camp place names. Names like "bogrim" were changed to "bogrimot."

There's a whole, developed system of nonbinary grammar that is functionally coherent! [2]

These were the words of a respondent to a Boston survey about Chevra Kadisha.

It is well-known halachah that women may perform a tahara for a man, but not the other way around.

It gets worse. There have been instances where transwomen who converted, passed away, and then were given post-mortem circumcisions.

Tahara is, for obvious reasons, the literal last thing we think of when it comes to ritual inclusion. But it is a chesed shel emes, "a charity of truth" or true lovingkindness that cannot be repaid. So the wishes of the deceased and their dignity is of the utmost importance to us.

Conservative Jewish halachah says, "We conclude that there is no valid halakhic prohibition for either men or women, cis or trans; gay or straight; or non-binary; helping to prepare the body of any Jew for burial." [3]

From "A Trans Jew in the Mikveh":

"In all the many ways mikva’ot are used, the lowest common denominator is change. One enters a mikveh in a certain state and leaves in a different state. Above all else, mikveh marks a transition. I came to realize that, in a way, this makes it especially relevant to the transgender community. But what made it painful for me to draw this connection is that mikveh was created for the cisgender, heterosexual body. Rabbis always imagined the person participating in niddah as a cisgender woman preparing to return to her cisgender husband, and the practice of immersion developed in response to these archetypes. And you can tell. Immersion traditionally takes place naked, the idea behind this being to parallel the new beginning of a baby in a womb, or the waters of creation in Genesis. The rabbis teach that we exist in the mikveh water as our most stripped-down, essential selves and emerge renewed. But for all its theoretical significance, the ritual depends on the physical body. When one immerses in a mikveh, their body itself takes on the significance of whatever transition they are undergoing physically, spiritually, or emotionally. We call it an “embodied ritual” for a reason." [4]

Can and should our communities support transition rituals recognize a new identity?

For the majority of us, we may not govern our actions whether or not it's permitted under Jewish law. But some do. Is SRS permitted? Is brit milah required of a transgender woman?

Where do we go from here as individual Jews and a Jewish community?