By: Maria G. Martinez & Alexa Cruz, Pd. I
Judaism: Real World Issues
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In the religion of Judaism, there are opposing views on the inclusion of the trans
community. The more liberal side of the religion has made some very big changes to include
trans genders and non-binary people, but the more conservative side is voting on what counts as
being transgender. A problem they have a hard time agreeing on is burial. Last November, there
was a landmark resolution for trans equality passed by the Union for Reform Judaism. It called
for Reform Institutions to change by "referring to them by their chosen identity, providing
gender-neutral bathrooms, instituting sensitivity training for staff and community members, and
making liturgical language more gender neutral." The Jewish Theological Seminary installed two
bathrooms to be all-gender, and their application form has been changed from the binary system
to letting the applicants define their own gender. While there is a lot of change happening, the
more conservative side and some opinionated Rabbis believe Jews should be referred to and
treated like the gender they were born with because that is the way it has always been done, and
they don't want to mess up tradition.
The arguments made about transgender issues seem to revolve around the changing of the
religion. Half the religion wants to change to include all people while the other half wants to stay
the same. The problem with staying the same is that not everyone feels welcome in the Jewish
community, and many people are leaving the religion. The few that do stay face many challenges
with the split opinions of the religion. They're accepted by some but not all. A lot of change has
been done, and it might be for the better to keep the religion going.
Abortion is defined as the purposeful termination of a pregnancy. In the Bible, it says
man shall not kill. The Jewish tradition never states that abortion is prohibited or not. Exodus
21:22-23 tells a story of two men fighting. One strikes a pregnant woman, and it is said a life for
a life. If she dies, then he is a murderer, but if she does not and miscarriages the baby, he has to
pay a fine. The text says nothing about whether or not abortion is allowed except for when the
woman's life is in danger. If she has a "perilous pregnancy," her life takes precedence over the
baby's. Some people take this as abortion is allowed since the fetus is not considered a human
being in the Jewish tradition. Others show that even though it is never stated, it is still a life taken
therefore is murder. Judaism is more than what is written in the Torah. This situation is left up to
interpretation.
community. The more liberal side of the religion has made some very big changes to include
trans genders and non-binary people, but the more conservative side is voting on what counts as
being transgender. A problem they have a hard time agreeing on is burial. Last November, there
was a landmark resolution for trans equality passed by the Union for Reform Judaism. It called
for Reform Institutions to change by "referring to them by their chosen identity, providing
gender-neutral bathrooms, instituting sensitivity training for staff and community members, and
making liturgical language more gender neutral." The Jewish Theological Seminary installed two
bathrooms to be all-gender, and their application form has been changed from the binary system
to letting the applicants define their own gender. While there is a lot of change happening, the
more conservative side and some opinionated Rabbis believe Jews should be referred to and
treated like the gender they were born with because that is the way it has always been done, and
they don't want to mess up tradition.
The arguments made about transgender issues seem to revolve around the changing of the
religion. Half the religion wants to change to include all people while the other half wants to stay
the same. The problem with staying the same is that not everyone feels welcome in the Jewish
community, and many people are leaving the religion. The few that do stay face many challenges
with the split opinions of the religion. They're accepted by some but not all. A lot of change has
been done, and it might be for the better to keep the religion going.
Abortion is defined as the purposeful termination of a pregnancy. In the Bible, it says
man shall not kill. The Jewish tradition never states that abortion is prohibited or not. Exodus
21:22-23 tells a story of two men fighting. One strikes a pregnant woman, and it is said a life for
a life. If she dies, then he is a murderer, but if she does not and miscarriages the baby, he has to
pay a fine. The text says nothing about whether or not abortion is allowed except for when the
woman's life is in danger. If she has a "perilous pregnancy," her life takes precedence over the
baby's. Some people take this as abortion is allowed since the fetus is not considered a human
being in the Jewish tradition. Others show that even though it is never stated, it is still a life taken
therefore is murder. Judaism is more than what is written in the Torah. This situation is left up to
interpretation.