Jewish Culture and Creativity: Essays in Honor of Professor Michael Fishbane on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 2023
To better understand the interactions of transgender Jews and their Orthodox rabbis, this paper e... more To better understand the interactions of transgender Jews and their Orthodox rabbis, this paper examines scenaries that are inspired by game theory.
This article examines responses to the controversial picketing and media‐savvy provocations of th... more This article examines responses to the controversial picketing and media‐savvy provocations of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). Since WBC’s conduct is widely perceived as cruel, people often respond with anger and animosity, which reinforce WBC’s self‐representation as a persecuted church. Conversely, I have engaged Westboro Baptists in interviews that function as “bridging conversations.” This methodology centers on critical‐empathic listening, comparative religious ethics, and a disciplined restraint from expressing moral judgment. I argue that this response is supported by the data and understandings obtained, metapragmatic commentary, my rapport with churchgoers, and evidence of their empathy. In conclusion, I gauge the methodology’s risks and consider its expansion, for example, with undergraduates who have joined our conversations. In an era of polarized discourse, nonjudgmental listening is a counter‐intuitive response that troubles entrenched binaries, including the public fashioning of WBC as a dehumanized enemy.
Jewish communities have always had children with intersex conditions, which involve atypical anat... more Jewish communities have always had children with intersex conditions, which involve atypical anatomic, chromosomal, or gonadal sex. In the last several decades, Orthodox rabbis have issued ad hoc rulings to assign sex to children and adults with intersex conditions. However, rabbinic texts reflect disunity over whether to assign gender, for the purposes of Jewish law, according to outward appearance or chromosomal makeup. This rabbinic controversy has been exacerbated by an increasingly complicated medical picture. Endocrinologists have diagnosed more than two dozen intersex conditions, across nine overarching congenital types. Such complexity makes it difficult for rabbis to make acrossthe-board decisions about gender assignment. This essay examines how rabbinic law may change because gender cannot be assigned consistently by chromosomal sex-despite the prevalence of this formulaic criterion in rabbinic opinions. Consequently, Jewish legal reasoning is poised to shift from a static reliance on chromosomal sex. The essay also considers the implications of this trajectory on Jewish law towards sex change surgery and transsexuals. Periodically, a tempest hits the sports world as questions are raised about the sexual identity of a female track and field athlete. The sex identity storm swirled around Eva Klobukowska (in 1967), Maria Patiño (1985), Santhi Soundarajan (2006), and, most recently, 18-year-old South African runner Caster Semenya (2009). Despite their female genitalia, these athletes appear 1 An earlier version was presented at the University of Chicago Law School Conference, "What Pertains to a Man? Transcending Gender Boundaries in Jewish and Israeli Law," March 1, 2010. The author appreciates his in-depth discussions with Michael Broyde as well as feedback from Jennifer Moran and Ellen Feder, among others.
Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues, 2015
This article examines discourse dynamics in Jewish law on sex-change surgery (SCS) and, in genera... more This article examines discourse dynamics in Jewish law on sex-change surgery (SCS) and, in general, transitioning between genders. Orthodox medical ethics has moved beyond the abstract condemnation of SCS to the design of practical rules for transsexuals living in observant communities. The reasoning against SCS has also shifted, both in complexity and with implicit ties to Christian and secular tropes. By medicalizing or, conversely, spiritualizing the experiences of transgendered persons, a few Orthodox authors are opening up interpretive space for sympathetic responses to SCS. Such transitions reach their most elaborate expression in Israeli Orthodox rabbi Edan ben Ephraim's 2004 monograph, Generation of Perversions, which has taken center stage in Orthodox deliberations on transsexuality. Overall, halakhic discourse seems to be moving in innovative, unavoidably interdiscursive directions.
New solutions : a journal of environmental and occupational health policy : NS, 1996
A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE U.S. POPULATION ... IS AT RISK FROM THE IMPACTS OF catastrophic chemica... more A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE U.S. POPULATION ... IS AT RISK FROM THE IMPACTS OF catastrophic chemical accidents. Chemical accidents also result in the toxic pollution that scientists believe may be linked to increasing rates of cancer, reproductive dysfunction, and birth defects in humans and wildlife. More than 10 years after an accident at a Union Carbide facility released a toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate (MlC) that engulfed the city of Bhopal, India, chemical accidents with severe environmental and human impacts continue to regularly occur in the United States. The Bhopal disaster claimed more than 2,000 lives and injured as many as 200,000. Interestingly, Middleport, N.Y. suffered the effects of MIC just 18 days before Bhopal when the FMC Corp. accidentally released 50 gallons of the chemical just 400 yards from an elementary school, where it was sucked into the school's ventilation system. Many children and teachers were treated at local hospitals for respiratory problems after being overcome by MIC fumes, but had the temperature been 20 degrees higher, the results would have been catastrophic. As the following examples demonstrate, chemical accidents often occur with unforeseeable consequences:
Jewish communities have always had children with intersex conditions, which involve atypical anat... more Jewish communities have always had children with intersex conditions, which involve atypical anatomic, chromosomal, or gonadal sex. In the last several decades, Orthodox rabbis have issued ad hoc rulings to assign sex to children and adults with intersex conditions. However, rabbinic texts reflect disunity over whether to assign gender, for the purposes of Jewish law, according to outward appearance or chromosomal makeup. This rabbinic controversy has been exacerbated by an increasingly complicated medical picture. Endocrinologists have diagnosed more than two dozen intersex conditions, across nine overarching congenital types. Such complexity makes it difficult for rabbis to make across-the-board decisions about gender assignment. This essay examines how rabbinic law may change because gender cannot be assigned consistently by chromosomal sex—despite the prevalence of this formulaic criterion in rabbinic opinions. Consequently, Jewish legal reasoning is poised to shift from a static reliance on chromosomal sex. The essay also considers the implications of this trajectory on Jewish law towards sex change surgery and transsexuals.
This article examines discourse dynamics in Jewish law on sex-change surgery (SCS) and, in genera... more This article examines discourse dynamics in Jewish law on sex-change surgery (SCS) and, in general, transitioning between genders. Orthodox medical ethics has moved beyond the abstract condemnation of SCS to the design of practical rules for transsexuals living in observant communities. The reasoning against SCS has also shifted, both in complexity and with implicit ties to Christian and secular tropes. By medicalizing or, conversely, spiritualizing the experiences of transgendered persons, a few Orthodox authors are opening up interpretive space for sympathetic responses to SCS. Such transitions reach their most elaborate expression in Israeli Orthodox rabbi Edan ben Ephraim’s 2004 monograph, Generation of Perversions, which has taken center stage in Orthodox deliberations on transsexuality. Overall, halakhic discourse seems to be moving in innovative, unavoidably interdiscursive directions.
Jewish Culture and Creativity: Essays in Honor of Professor Michael Fishbane on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 2023
To better understand the interactions of transgender Jews and their Orthodox rabbis, this paper e... more To better understand the interactions of transgender Jews and their Orthodox rabbis, this paper examines scenaries that are inspired by game theory.
This article examines responses to the controversial picketing and media‐savvy provocations of th... more This article examines responses to the controversial picketing and media‐savvy provocations of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). Since WBC’s conduct is widely perceived as cruel, people often respond with anger and animosity, which reinforce WBC’s self‐representation as a persecuted church. Conversely, I have engaged Westboro Baptists in interviews that function as “bridging conversations.” This methodology centers on critical‐empathic listening, comparative religious ethics, and a disciplined restraint from expressing moral judgment. I argue that this response is supported by the data and understandings obtained, metapragmatic commentary, my rapport with churchgoers, and evidence of their empathy. In conclusion, I gauge the methodology’s risks and consider its expansion, for example, with undergraduates who have joined our conversations. In an era of polarized discourse, nonjudgmental listening is a counter‐intuitive response that troubles entrenched binaries, including the public fashioning of WBC as a dehumanized enemy.
Jewish communities have always had children with intersex conditions, which involve atypical anat... more Jewish communities have always had children with intersex conditions, which involve atypical anatomic, chromosomal, or gonadal sex. In the last several decades, Orthodox rabbis have issued ad hoc rulings to assign sex to children and adults with intersex conditions. However, rabbinic texts reflect disunity over whether to assign gender, for the purposes of Jewish law, according to outward appearance or chromosomal makeup. This rabbinic controversy has been exacerbated by an increasingly complicated medical picture. Endocrinologists have diagnosed more than two dozen intersex conditions, across nine overarching congenital types. Such complexity makes it difficult for rabbis to make acrossthe-board decisions about gender assignment. This essay examines how rabbinic law may change because gender cannot be assigned consistently by chromosomal sex-despite the prevalence of this formulaic criterion in rabbinic opinions. Consequently, Jewish legal reasoning is poised to shift from a static reliance on chromosomal sex. The essay also considers the implications of this trajectory on Jewish law towards sex change surgery and transsexuals. Periodically, a tempest hits the sports world as questions are raised about the sexual identity of a female track and field athlete. The sex identity storm swirled around Eva Klobukowska (in 1967), Maria Patiño (1985), Santhi Soundarajan (2006), and, most recently, 18-year-old South African runner Caster Semenya (2009). Despite their female genitalia, these athletes appear 1 An earlier version was presented at the University of Chicago Law School Conference, "What Pertains to a Man? Transcending Gender Boundaries in Jewish and Israeli Law," March 1, 2010. The author appreciates his in-depth discussions with Michael Broyde as well as feedback from Jennifer Moran and Ellen Feder, among others.
Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues, 2015
This article examines discourse dynamics in Jewish law on sex-change surgery (SCS) and, in genera... more This article examines discourse dynamics in Jewish law on sex-change surgery (SCS) and, in general, transitioning between genders. Orthodox medical ethics has moved beyond the abstract condemnation of SCS to the design of practical rules for transsexuals living in observant communities. The reasoning against SCS has also shifted, both in complexity and with implicit ties to Christian and secular tropes. By medicalizing or, conversely, spiritualizing the experiences of transgendered persons, a few Orthodox authors are opening up interpretive space for sympathetic responses to SCS. Such transitions reach their most elaborate expression in Israeli Orthodox rabbi Edan ben Ephraim's 2004 monograph, Generation of Perversions, which has taken center stage in Orthodox deliberations on transsexuality. Overall, halakhic discourse seems to be moving in innovative, unavoidably interdiscursive directions.
New solutions : a journal of environmental and occupational health policy : NS, 1996
A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE U.S. POPULATION ... IS AT RISK FROM THE IMPACTS OF catastrophic chemica... more A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE U.S. POPULATION ... IS AT RISK FROM THE IMPACTS OF catastrophic chemical accidents. Chemical accidents also result in the toxic pollution that scientists believe may be linked to increasing rates of cancer, reproductive dysfunction, and birth defects in humans and wildlife. More than 10 years after an accident at a Union Carbide facility released a toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate (MlC) that engulfed the city of Bhopal, India, chemical accidents with severe environmental and human impacts continue to regularly occur in the United States. The Bhopal disaster claimed more than 2,000 lives and injured as many as 200,000. Interestingly, Middleport, N.Y. suffered the effects of MIC just 18 days before Bhopal when the FMC Corp. accidentally released 50 gallons of the chemical just 400 yards from an elementary school, where it was sucked into the school's ventilation system. Many children and teachers were treated at local hospitals for respiratory problems after being overcome by MIC fumes, but had the temperature been 20 degrees higher, the results would have been catastrophic. As the following examples demonstrate, chemical accidents often occur with unforeseeable consequences:
Jewish communities have always had children with intersex conditions, which involve atypical anat... more Jewish communities have always had children with intersex conditions, which involve atypical anatomic, chromosomal, or gonadal sex. In the last several decades, Orthodox rabbis have issued ad hoc rulings to assign sex to children and adults with intersex conditions. However, rabbinic texts reflect disunity over whether to assign gender, for the purposes of Jewish law, according to outward appearance or chromosomal makeup. This rabbinic controversy has been exacerbated by an increasingly complicated medical picture. Endocrinologists have diagnosed more than two dozen intersex conditions, across nine overarching congenital types. Such complexity makes it difficult for rabbis to make across-the-board decisions about gender assignment. This essay examines how rabbinic law may change because gender cannot be assigned consistently by chromosomal sex—despite the prevalence of this formulaic criterion in rabbinic opinions. Consequently, Jewish legal reasoning is poised to shift from a static reliance on chromosomal sex. The essay also considers the implications of this trajectory on Jewish law towards sex change surgery and transsexuals.
This article examines discourse dynamics in Jewish law on sex-change surgery (SCS) and, in genera... more This article examines discourse dynamics in Jewish law on sex-change surgery (SCS) and, in general, transitioning between genders. Orthodox medical ethics has moved beyond the abstract condemnation of SCS to the design of practical rules for transsexuals living in observant communities. The reasoning against SCS has also shifted, both in complexity and with implicit ties to Christian and secular tropes. By medicalizing or, conversely, spiritualizing the experiences of transgendered persons, a few Orthodox authors are opening up interpretive space for sympathetic responses to SCS. Such transitions reach their most elaborate expression in Israeli Orthodox rabbi Edan ben Ephraim’s 2004 monograph, Generation of Perversions, which has taken center stage in Orthodox deliberations on transsexuality. Overall, halakhic discourse seems to be moving in innovative, unavoidably interdiscursive directions.
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