Rabbis in religious Zionism call for treating a man who has become a woman - as a woman • However, there are laws that still need to be performed, such as putting on tefillin: "The law does not recognize gender reassignment."
Sapir Berman
Photo:
Alan Shiver
We have all been exposed in recent days to the football referee in the Premier League who changed his gender from male to female and has been called Sapir Berman since yesterday (Tuesday).
But what does the law say on the subject?
Does the massive change in appearance and attitude change Judaism's approach to it?
This is acute in light of the fact that there are their laws according to the Orthodox approach only the man is obligated to, such as tefillin or the possibility of ascending to the Torah.
The rabbis on the liberal side of religious Zionism, who are open to various changes, have provided fascinating answers.
Rabbi Sherlow: "Wherever the halakhah takes into account a person's feelings, he should not be forced. Thus, a man who has become a woman should not be required to be the tenth in the minyan."
"First, Halacha does not recognize gender reassignment - a person's gender is the gender to which he was born," explains Rabbi Yuval Sherlow, head of the Orot Shaul Yeshiva and head of the ethics department at the Tzohar rabbinical organization. "Even if a man is adopted, his father is the biological father when it comes to halakhah, and so is his mother. Therefore, it does not matter if a man has undergone sex reassignment surgery, he will always be a man and will have to obey all the commandments. In the same way, a woman undergoing sex reassignment surgery will not Once a man is halakhically, and all the rules that apply to a woman will apply to her. "
"However, one must distinguish between the law on the legal side, the law between a man and his friend. If a man is now completely seen as a woman he should not be forced to sit with men, but he can sit with women. He can be respected and called by the name he chose to be called and spoken to in female language. The same upside down, a girl who has become a man can be called by the masculine name and also spoken to in a masculine language.
But it is of course in terms of attitude, in terms of the inclusion of the person in the community and his acceptance.
But there is no legal change beyond that in the status of this person, "states Rabbi Sherlow.
Therefore, Rabbi Sherlow rules that a man who has become a woman must obey all the laws, including tefillin.
He can be a cantor in the synagogue and go up and read the Torah.
At the same time, wherever the halakhah takes into account a person's feelings, he should not be forced.
Thus, a man who has become a woman should not be required to be tenth in the quorum.
Rabbi Ido Pechter, rabbi of a community in Netanya, believes that the world of halakhah needs a long way to go to deal with the issue of transgender people, but if it turns out that this is a scientific reality that is also accepted in Judaism - halakhah will have to accept this in practice.
Rabbi Pechter: "If it is scientifically proven absolutely that there is such a phenomenon and there are women imprisoned within a male body or vice versa, then the law will not conflict with reality and accept the situation."
"Basically in the world of halakhah today there are not so many answers to the issue, there is no actual dealing with the question in principle but general references, which state that a man remains a man regardless of his appearance or the surgeries he underwent. Another duty that exists in halakhah.However my personal opinion is that if it is scientifically proven absolutely that there is such a phenomenon and there are women imprisoned within a male body or vice versa, then halakhah will not conflict with reality and accept this situation for all its halakhic implications "And a woman who becomes a man will put on tefillin and be considered a man for all the commandments."
"The reason for this is that Halacha never clashed with reality but accepted it. Therefore, even here once research rivets are set, there will be no choice but to accept this situation. Today we are not in this situation, there is a practice that allows things that were not in the days of sages, But there is still no reference to the halakhic definition of such an act - whether this person is androgynous (a person with multiple genitals), or stupid (a person without genitals at all), or neither this nor that.
In other words, it will take time for the world of halakhah to accept the scientific world into it and accept it. "
Rabbi Shlomo Hecht, spokesman for the Beit Hillel Rabbinical Association, explains that there is a halakhic dispute and there is no uniform ruling, and in practice at the moment it is necessary to act individually and not inclusively.
"There is controversy and some attitudes, there are those who believe that a man can not change the gender in which he was born, and a man will always remain a man. On the other hand there are those who believe that appearance does determine, and if a man looks completely like a woman he can not ascend to the Torah.
Rabbi Hecht believes that in fact if a woman has become a man, all the laws of men apply to her - including the laying of tefillin.
"I of course recommend the community to contain such a person and treat him with respect. But the truth is that these are really isolated cases of a trans person who wants to stay religious and be part of the community. So here usually the ruling of the person involved is the body of the case. ".
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Rabbi Mordechai Vardi, rabbi of Kibbutz Rosh Tzurim, and director of the Shomron Film Foundation, says that this is a complicated issue that must be studied in the beit midrash in general before one begins to touch on it. "I think it is necessary to deal with this even before halakhah and to understand the people who are in this situation, it is not just a halakhic question but first of all to understand what the reality is. It is a situation that did not exist in the days of sages ... Brand new. "A beit midrash should be opened and discussed, so it is not possible to answer it after one case, but to deal with it, to go down to the genetic, psychological level and only then determine, he says."
