Transgender Jews: How Inclusion Can Make Things Better for Everyone

CHAI Opening Lecture

Rabbi Leonard Sharzer, MD, Associate Director for Bioethics, Finkelstein Institute of Religious and Social Studies, JTS

Monday, October 23, 8:30 p.m.

Dix Hills Jewish Center
555 Vanderbilt Parkway Dix Hills, NY 

About the Lecture

In the last two decades, there has been a sea change in our understanding, in American society at large and as a Jewish community, of the meaning of sex, sexuality, and gender, and specifically of gender identity. As more transgender people come out, there is a moral imperative for the Jewish community to find ways to accommodate the needs of transgender Jews and to provide safe and welcoming spaces while remaining true to the ethical values and halakhic norms of the Jewish tradition.

Rabbi Sharzer’s lecture will be preceded by a class with a local clergy member from 7:30–8:15 p.m.

CHAI (Cooperative Hebrew Adult Institute) is a multi-synagogue adult education institute held at the Dix Hills Jewish Center in cooperation with the Hereld Institute for Jewish Studies of JTS.

Cost: $36/pp, which includes six weeks of courses and lectures.

Questions? Please contact Gail Jospa at gjospa@optonline.net for additional information and to find out how to register.

This program is partially sponsored by the Hereld Institute for Jewish Studies of JTS.

Save the Date

Rabbi Daniel Nevins, Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School, JTS, will deliver the closing lecture, “Conversion: Who Is a Jew and Who Decides” on Monday, November 27.