ABSTRACT
Within more traditional religious Jewish communities the question of communal LGBTQ integration cannot be explored without recourse to Jewish law, because Jewish law is deeply interwoven within all aspects of orthodox Jewish life. This is especially true with regard to transgender members of the orthodox community.
There are contrasting opinions. Rabbi Waldenberg did not permit gender reassignment surgery from the outset; in contrast to many others, he ruled that such a person who has had gender reassignment surgery is indeed now a different gender than they were before.
Thus one’s obligation in mitzvot would not be affected by gender change, but social behaviors such the prohibition of men and women who are not married not being permitted to have any physical contact with each other, or laws circumscribing private meetings with the opposite gender, would change with a gender operation.
Rabbi Ben-Ephraim does in theory recognize that one who is transformed into another gender is considered that new gender. On the other hand, surgery performed to achieve a new gender would not fully change a person’s gender with regard to halakhah.
As we walk the narrow bridge between fidelity to the letter of the law and the overarching Jewish and halakhic value of being, “mikabetz nidchey yisrael,” gathering in those Jews who may feel vulnerable and alienated, may the words of Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg help guide our way, that even if we conclude that gender reassignment brings along with is a whole host of halakhic problems, “nevertheless one must bring such a person as close to Judaism as they can.”
