Thread by @RavBogard

I keep hearing from GOP lawmakers that they "just want to return to a Judeo-Christian idea of men being men and women being women." So let's talk about that "Judeo" part for a moment (because it's a lot queerer and less binary than y'all seem to think). 🧵🏳️‍⚧️ #aRainbowThread 1/

The most central couple in the bible is Abraham & Sarah, the founders of the Jewish people. And they were both intersex! Or non-binary! Or both! Millennia ago the rabbis of the Talmud shared an ancient tradition of this (Yevamot 64a-b).

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In fact, the rabbis of the Talmud even get into an argument as to which category of (the very much non binary) sex/gender spectrum Abraham and Sarah fall into! Don't believe me that ancient Jews didn't see gender as a binary? Check out the 2000yo sacred Mishnah Bikurim 4:1-4

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The contemporaries and study partners of the historical Jesus are the rabbis of the Mishnah, and they described SIX genders/sexes, not two. Now, don't get me wrong--this is still a text with lots of misogyny. But it also clearly shows that we *never* saw gender as a binary. 4/

Want to get even queerer? Adam was "made in God's image", which according to Breishit Rabbah 8:1 means: "At the moment when the Holy Blessed One created the first adam, God created them as an androginos, as it is written: 'male and female God created them'. 5/

Think about that: if adam harishon (the first human-thing) was made in God's image, and adam was described as (this is the literal word in Hebrew) 'androginus', that means that according to the ancient rabbis, GOD IS NON-BINARY. 6/

There are *so* many queer ancestors in Jewish tradition. How differently would we understand the story of Esther if we read Mordecai as a trans-man? Because 1600 years ago Jews shared an ancient tradition that Mordecai nursed Esther from his own breasts when she was a baby. 7/

Did you know that Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, was a trans-woman? Not only that: God is the one who helped her transition! From the 1400yo Tanchuma: "God heard her prayer and converted...her...into a female." 8/

Dinah's moment of gender transition into a woman is right there in the Hebrew text if you know to look for it--and the ancient rabbis did. The Torah says "afterwards [achar, masc] she bore a daughter". The verse starts with the masc 'achar', yet finishes with 'daughter Dinah'. 9/

All of these amazing texts that I've mentioned can be found in the awe-inspiring "A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969" by Noam Sienna. BUY THIS BOOK!!! 10/ printocraftpress.com/product/a-rain…

Want to hear the heartwarming story of Berel-Beyle, a trans man whose transition was lovingly supported by his Jewish shtetl in Ukraine 150yo ago? Check out this other #aRainbowThread

https://twitter.com/RavBogard/status/1491537996084035588?t=pOqGHHwTA1N7sA0SF8bFYw&s=19

And finally, if you're looking to support trans kids in Missouri, please donate to @PROMOMissouri , who are standing in the front lines trying to protect our children. promoonline.org/campaigns/dona…

Back to Dinah for a moment, and this is important: because if God helped Dinah to transition--literally while she was still in the womb--then helping trans kids get access to puberty blockers and HRT is absolutely a religious obligation (mitzvah) for Jews.

https://twitter.com/RavBogard/status/1518615175611490304?t=1mVDW4w7TzQI3qZySTXrFg&s=19

This 6-3 Court seems to almost exclusively prioritize 'religious liberty'. And so I want to be clear: laws that prevent Jewish trans kids from transitioning are a violation of their 1st Amendment rights, and an imposition of governmental Christianity on me and my family.