Trans Day of Visibility: The 6 Genders of Judaism
On this Transgender Day of Visibility, I want to celebrate the notion that transgender identity has always existed, yet many people are under the misconception that being LGBTQIA+ is “new.” This piece dispels that notion. In fact, LGBTQIA+ identities are ancient. Instead, what has evolved in recent decades, is the language around sex and gender, and not the identities themselves. One area where we can observe this is in ancient Jewish texts. Jewish texts abound in subtle references to homosexuality, one of the most famous of which is the Torah passage in which Ruth tells Naomi, “Wherever you will go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live.”
In fact, some strands of historical Judaism acknowledged not just sexual orientation, but gender diversity, too. Jewish law, or halacha, frequently recognizes intersex and non-conforming sexes alongside male and female. More specifically, Rabbinical literature outlines six different sexes, some of which receive hundreds of mentions in the Mishna, Talmud, and Midrash. These refrences date back to the time of the founding of Judaism, which is roughly 5700 years. These terms are:
Zachar: derived from the word for memory and referring to the belief that the man carried the name and identity of the family. It is usually translated as "male" in English.
Nekevah: derived from the word for crevice and likely referring to the vaginal opening. It is usually translated as "female" in English.
Androgynos: A person who has both "male" and "female" physical sexual characteristics. One classical Jewish text describes Adam, the first human, as androgynos. In today’s language, we might consider this to be some variation of “gender non-conforming.”
Tumtum : A person whose sexual characteristics are indeterminate or obscured. Using today’s language, this could be interpreted as someone who is transgender, gender-confirming, or non-binary identified.
Ay'lonit: A female who does not develop secondary sex characteristics at puberty, which again may refer to someone who is Intersex using today’s language.
Saris: A male who does not develop secondary sex characteristics at puberty or has his sex characteristics removed. One can either be "naturally" born a saris (saris hamah) or can become a saris through human intervention (saris adam). Using today’s vernacular, we might consider Saris to be Intersex.
This historical knowledge moves us forward; we have always been here, we will always exist and thrive throughout time and space. Furthermore, a core Jewish value is that all human beings are created b'tzelem Elohim––in the divine image of God. From this, we can deduce that all people are worthy of love, respect, equitable treatment, and justice. These principles of social justice and liberation, and of celebrating gender diversity, have an important place in my daily work as a couples and family therapist who works with LGBTQIA+ individuals.
