"I believe that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GBLT) Jews in our midst - our children, our relatives, and our friend - are in great need, as are we all of spiritual support,"
In an effort to remain inclusive to the faithful of all persuasions, the Jewish Reform sect has created blessings for the sanctification of gender reassignment.
According to a story posted today by jta.org, the Union for Reform Judaism published a new, second edition of its 500-page Kulanu (named after the Hebrew word for "all of us"), a resource dedicated to addressing the needs of the GLBT portion of Judaism.
Two new blessings, written by Rabbi Elliot Kukla, are provided for those undergoing sex changes.
Kukla--whom the article said had formerly been known as Eliza--had written the blessings for a friend, but thought they would be appropriate at different "moments of medical transitions" in the reassignment process.
In many branches of Judaism, GLBT persons are accepted as readily as heterosexuals, as rabbis, cantors, or members of the faith seeking the blessing of their union to a partner of the same sex.
Even so, blessings for sexual reassignment are something new.
"There was a conversation about what we should include and what we shouldn’t include," Rabbi Richard Address, who serves as an editor of Kulanu, said.
Added Address, who is also the director of the Reform Union’s Department of Family concerns, "This was going to be a little bit out there."
The blessings are in Hebrew, with one of them calling upon God as "the transforming one to those who cross over" from one gender to the other.
The other blessing--meant for recitation at the completion of the process--refers to God as the one "who has made me in his image."
A third blessing is the a traditional one, the Shehechiyanu, which is typically said on important benchmark occasions in life.
Kukla wrote an introduction to the blessings to explain that, "The midrash, classical Jewish exegesis, adds that the adam harishon, the first human being formed in God’s likeness, was an androgynos, an intersex person."
**********************************************************************************
I’ve been told that the "Jewish" community only marries within their "family". They aren't allowed to married outside of their family. As a result of the laws within, many children were born with deformed gene tails. This situation has gotten so out of control, that the Jewish society created a "blessing", that supports "sex changes", for those born as an intersex (or as a Hermaphrodite).
Explain this to me, why are they calling on "GOD" as a way to validate these incestuous relationships that's taking place within their families?
I'm really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one nowadays.
ReplyDeleteHere is my blog post ... pimpwebcams.com