The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah From a Transgender Perspective

202 Pages·2018·0.857 MB·English

by  Joy Ladin

Joy Ladin
READING GOD AND TORAH
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Joy Ladin
THE SOUL OF THE STRANGER R
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Brandeis University Press Waltham, Massachusetts
Brandeis University Press
An imprint of University Press of New England
www.upne.com
© 2019 Brandeis University
All rights reserved
The HBI Series on Jewish Women is supported
by a generous gift from Dr. Laura S. Schor.
For permission to reproduce any of the material in this book,
contact Permissions, University Press of New England, One Court Street, Suite 250,
Lebanon NH 03766; or visit www.upne.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ladin, Joy, 1961– author.
Title: The soul of the stranger : reading God and Torah from a transgender
perspective / Joy Ladin.
Description: Waltham, Massachusetts : Brandeis University Press, [2019] |
Series: HBI series on Jewish women | Includes bibliographical references and index. 
Identifiers: LCCN 2018024055 (print) | LCCN 2018033753 (ebook) | ISBN 9781512602944
(epub, pdf, & mobi) | ISBN 9781512600667 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781512602937
(pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: God (Judaism)—Attributes. | God (Judaism)—Knowableness. | Gender identity
in the Bible. | Gender nonconformity—Religious aspects—Judaism. | Bible—Transgender
interpretations. | Jewish transgender people—Religious life—United States. | Transgender
people—Religious life—United States. | Ladin, Joy, 1961–
Classification: LCC BM610 (ebook) | LCC BM610 .L334 2019 (print) | DDC 296.3086/7—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018024055
For Nancy Mayer,
without whom
neither this book
nor my life
would have
been possible,
and for You,
my favorite
stranger

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
INTRODUCTION Shipwrecked with God 1
ONE The Genesis of Gender 16
TWO Trans Experience in the Torah 35
THREE Close Encounters with an Incomprehensible God 61
FOUR Reading between the Binaries 92
FIVE Knowing the Soul of the Stranger 123
Notes 149
Index 175