Idit Klein
Executive Director, Keshet
Transgender Jews: Breaking Down One Wall, Praying At Another
Posted: 12/ 2/11 11:45 AM ET
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/idit-klein/transgender-jews-in-israel_b_1122079.htmlIsrael is a country in which life is rigidly defined by gender. This is experienced most starkly at the Western Wall, known in Hebrew as the Kotel. Traditionally, Jews all over the world pray in the direction of the Western Wall, the holiest Jewish religious site. The plaza in front of the massive stone wall is divided into two sections: the right side for women, the left for men, with a barrier in between that no one crosses. People pray at all hours of the day, sometimes weeping, at the Wall. The crevices between the wall's stones are packed with countless tiny slips of paper, each with a handwritten prayer from a visitor. Even the greatest rationalists find themselves moved by the fierce trust and hope in prayer, the power of faith that is manifest in this space.
And yet, this is a space where women are still fighting for the right to read from the Torah and where transgender people, whose gender identities or presentation do not fall neatly into the two parts of the plaza, have no place at all. This year, while standing at the Wall in the women's section, I contemplated the unselfconscious ease with which I chose that part of the prayer space; the full and accurate assumption that no one would stare at me uncomfortably or act in any way as if I didn't belong there.
