{"id":33024,"date":"2011-05-24T15:49:50","date_gmt":"2011-05-24T23:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=33024"},"modified":"2011-05-24T15:49:50","modified_gmt":"2011-05-24T23:49:50","slug":"balancing-on-the-mechitza-transgender-in-jewish-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=33024","title":{"rendered":"Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Book review from the South Florida Gay News<\/a>: A mechitza is a barrier that separates men from women in Orthodox Jewish synagogues and at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Transgender Jews, especially the observant ones, \u201cbalance on the mechitza\u201d that separates the genders actually and symbolically. In Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, editor Noach Dzmura collected an assortment of \u201cspiritual autobiography, rituals, text study, assistance for community organizing, and theory to advance the idea and the practical reality of transgender inclusion in mainstream and queer Jewish spaces. The book provides classical Jewish texts with traditional and activist interpretations that support and validate transgender lives.\u201d Among the contributors to Balancing on the Mechitza are trans Jews like Bornstein, Aaron Devor and Martin Rawlings-Fein as well as some supportive, non-transgender women. On the other hand, there are no contributions from non-transgender men (no surprise) and only two submissions from Orthodox Jews both written by Beth Orens, a trans woman who literally \u201ccrossed the mechitza.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book review from the South Florida Gay News: A mechitza is a barrier that separates men from women in Orthodox Jewish synagogues and at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Transgender Jews, especially the observant ones, \u201cbalance on the mechitza\u201d that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[26494,21493,26495,26496,26497,10701],"class_list":["post-33024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homophobia","tag-classical-jewish-texts","tag-transgender-jews","tag-transgender-lives","tag-transgender-men","tag-transgender-women","tag-western-wall-in-jerusalem"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t