Advertise on podcast: Torah for Trans Lives

When we fight for our freedom, we - like the Israelites - must harness powers beyond our comprehension. There is so much fear in our lives, not just of violence from our oppressors, but of what we might have to do get out from under their thumbs. The Israelites, witnessing the mass death of the Egyptians drowned in the Sea, were afraid too. But finding safety in "facts" gives you no safety at all. Whatever you decide the truth is, it's weirder than that. Clown Joel's top surgery fundraiser - https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-joels-top-surgery-recovery Living a Religious Life as a Transgender Jew: A Halachic Conversation - https://www.eshelonline.org/event/living-a-religious-life-as-a-transgender-jew-a-halachic-conversation/ Asking transphobes if they can name 5 professional athletes in women's sports - https://www.instagram.com/p/DTeIrZKDPIS/ Lexi spoke about the same verses from Beshalach in T4TL e02 "Biology and Truth." You can listen to the full Maor vaShemesh she references in that episode - https://www.thetorahstudio.org/t4tl/episode/9222ad53/s1e2-biology-and-truth Torah for Trans Lives is a Torah Studio podcast, written, produced and performed by Lexi Kohanski. Our volunteer editor is Lis Cardy. Our graphic is “Rivka and Yitzchak” by Rena Yehuda Newman. Our title music is “Lekhabot et haAhavah” by Rabbi Noam Lerman. The script for this episode, plus notes, citations, and thoughts that didn't make the final cut, are available on the T4Torah Patreon.

Lexi uncovers a different version of a midrash on Vaera that sheds new light on a video she made 3 years ago. It turns out that when God comes out with Her true Name, everything gets worse. As a trans person, Lexi thinks that's all too relatable. Also in this episode: Lexi starts learning Yiddish, and reflects on 4 years of gender transition. Torah for Trans Lives is a Torah Studio podcast, written, produced and performed by Lexi Kohanski. Our volunteer editor is Lis Cardy. Our graphic is “Rivka and Yitzchak” by Rena Yehuda Newman. Our title music is “Lekhabot et haAhavah” by Rabbi Noam Lerman. The script for this episode, plus notes, citations, and thoughts that didn't make the final cut, are available on the T4Torah Patreon.

This is a very special crossover episode with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s project about truth & transformation, with ancient stories serving as mirrors & lights. You can listen to this piece here on the podcast, and you can read it along with footnotes and gorgeous artwork at lifeisasacredtext.com. Darlings, get ready for this reading of Unproductive Desires: On "Crushed Testes," Transition, Jewish Continuity, and Who's Allowed in God's Community. Torah for Trans Lives is a Torah Studio podcast, written, produced and performed by Lexi Kohanski. Our volunteer editor is Lis Cardy. Our graphic is “Rivka and Yitzchak” by Rena Yehuda Newman. Our title music is “Lekhabot et haAhavah” by Rabbi Noam Lerman. The script for this episode, plus notes, citations, and artwork are available on Life is a Sacred Text. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In the wake of the Minneapolis shooting, the Arrogant Government has used the shooter's trans identity to push for greater persecution of trans people as a whole. One trans person shoots up a church school, and all that very real grief and anger get directed at trans people collectively. Like it or not, the names we are called matter. And because they matter, when we take on a collective name, like an identity, or have one put on us, we become responsible beyond ourselves: to the people who share that name, and to the vision that name calls us to live up to. An Elul episode for the season of repentance. אָבִֽינוּ מַלְכֵּֽנוּ עֲשֵׂה לְמַֽעַן שִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל הַגִּבּוֹר וְהַנּוֹרָא שֶׁנִּקְרָא עָלֵֽינוּ: Our Mother, our Queen, act for the sake of Your great, mighty, awesome Name by which we are called! Torah for Trans Lives is a Torah Studio podcast, written, produced and performed by Lexi Kohanski. Our volunteer editor is Lis Cardy. Our graphic is “Rivka and Yitzchak” by Rena Yehuda Newman. Our title music is “Lekhabot et haAhavah” by Rabbi Noam Lerman. The script for this episode, plus notes, citations, and thoughts that didn't make the final cut, are available on the T4Torah Patreon. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Episode Notes What is the purpose of a trans life? As the kinds of embodied trans futures we were promised become harder to imagine, Lexi speaks about the role bodily changes have to play in a spiritual gender transition. Just like the Tabernacle was only as physical as necessary to contain the Presence of God, so too the vessels for Presence that are our bodies must keep the spirituality greater. The key source in this episode is the Maor vaShemesh on Parshas Vayakhel. We’ve also got two midrashim, one from Shemos Rabbah 34:1 and the other from Chagigah 12a, plus Erin In the Morning and the Human Rights Campaign’s coverage of the House budget’s provisions to defund and disqualify gender affirming care from insurance coverage. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

The Arrogant Kingdom’s executive order writing trans people out of existence decrees there is such a thing as “biological truth.” Okay, darlings, so let’s talk about biology and truth. The truth of the body is linked with the mystery of the purpose of Creation, and it all centers around what it means to build a dwelling place for the Presence of God. Sources brought in this episode: the Maor vaShemesh on Parshas Terumah, reporting from Erin In the Morning on the University of Cincinnati's “biological” bathroom signs, Lexi’s Gashmius essay “A Lesson from God in Trans Visibility,” Jennifer Finney Boylan on Shania Twain’s Man, I Feel Like a Woman! and the shadows of a section from Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble that didn’t quite make the final cut.

Darlings, we need to talk about life and death. In preemptive compliance with the executive orders of the Arrogant Kingdom, New York City hospitals stopped providing care to trans youth. Lexi brings us wisdom from the Maor vaShemesh and Meor Eynayim, both Chassidic rebbes, to light our way to survival through this assault on trans rights. Also brought in this episode: Jennifer Finney Boylan on telling our stories, the mitzvah of gender transition, and Ezra Furman on the need for all our voices. Torah for Trans Lives is a Torah Studio podcast, written, produced and performed by Lexi Kohanski. Our volunteer editor is Austin Coulson. Our graphic is “Rivka and Yitzchak” by Rena Yehuda Newman. Our title music is “Lekhabot et haAhavah” by Rabbi Noam Lerman.