Sex change according to Judaism
I have a religious student and his family is religious, in the eighth grade, who wants, and his parents support, to become a girl. What is Judaism’s position? How should I respond?
I can’t say what the ‘Judaism position’ is, because there is no such thing. There are different opinions. You can see my opinion here: https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%98%D7%91%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%95%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%94/
The question of how you should treat him is a different question. The decision is theirs, not yours. The question may arise as to what to do if they decide to do so. How to treat him after the surgery. I don’t think you should give him normal treatment, but students will certainly have questions and you shouldn’t cover up for him if you think it’s forbidden. You can explain to the students that you think it’s forbidden and also explain the distress that caused this decision, but tell them that it’s the decision they made and you recommend that they treat him/her in a humane manner despite the differences of opinion.
If you want a halachic-scholarly dig (long but in my opinion quite brilliant) you can read Rabbi Issachar Katz's article on transgenders in halachic law.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rnK7DWeEZDB1xFqQoB7qTo2iVeR6m4-7/view
Wow. I didn't know this person. I looked him up, read an interview and really enjoyed it and identified with him. Definitely makes me want to read “The Excavation” too. What a shame.
https://gluya.org/interview-with-ysoscher-katz/
I read the “Excavation,” and I disagree with the method. He ignores the question of the relationship between sex and gender, and refers to the Talmud as the decisive source on this question (his entire discussion is about what the Talmud means). Maybe I’ll write about it. But it was worth getting to know the guy. Nice, nice.
He has a fundamental and fundamental error in his entire analogy of organ transplantation, which becomes part of the human body.
The common denominator of all the sources he cited is that the transplanted organ is eliminated and becomes part of the body, while he wants to prove that the entire body is eliminated for the transplanted organ.
A vasectomy is a defective male, and even if he transplants a vagina and breasts, he will always remain a male. If he also transplants horns into himself, he will not be an animal but a deformed male, with a vagina, breasts, and horns.
And as for emotions and the other points, this is complete nonsense. Since when do female emotions in a male body or vice versa change a person from male to female or vice versa. If someone feels that he is a sheep, can he be slaughtered, sacrificed as a Passover sacrifice, and eaten as an afikoman to his heart's content?
Progressive bullshit with 'enlightened' lumedas that is based on unrelated myths. It seems to have been written during Biden's time, now with Trump we already have a ruling that a male is a male is a male and a female is a female is a female.
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