Welcome to week 2 of my multi-week series, Intersections: Exploring Gender and Spirituality. Read week one featuring Sunni Muslim women here.

In the interest of transparency, I (the interviewer) am a cisgender Protestant woman which may have influenced the questions I asked.

This week, I’d like to introduce you to Emet and Lillian.

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Emet’s discussion of his faith reminded me of something crucial; don’t forget to consider denominations (Judaism calls them religious movements) when discussing a religion. Every sect of a faith–and every practitioner– doesn’t have exactly the same viewpoint, so it’s nearly impossible to judge any one religion in the collective. This is perhaps one of many flaws of this series. Spirituality, when it comes down to it, is a personal experience, with a few singular collective elements.

As Emet mentioned, “the roots of many [Jewish] traditions are patriarchal in nature” because traditionally (and still in Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox traditions) only men fully participate in worship. As a Reform Jew, he is mindful that many traditions around prayer, like “wearing a kippah, tallit, and tefillin” were ones that women were traditionally not allowed to participate in.

The one matriarchal aspect of Judaism is the religion is traditionally passed down the mother’s line. In my other interviewee Lillian’s opinion, she sees Judaism as inherently neutral gender-wise because she views her faith through “a lens of equality”. For other female perspectives, here’s a satirical video by an Orthodox Jewish woman on the sexism in her faith.

As far as Emet’s local congregation goes, “they are absolutely open to various gender identities” and they have amended many of the service texts to make them less gendered. Emet noted “instead of saying the sons of Abraham it would say the sons and daughters of Abraham or the children of Abraham” and God is also “ungendered […] it typically says Adonai or in some cases when it attempts to reduce redundancy, Sovereign of the Universe.” Interestingly, this non-gendered wording choice is also something I have seen some liberal Christian ministers do independently, but it’s often not an official denominational choice reflected in the texts.

The Hebrew language itself is a “highly gendered” language with only male or female endings, and this “can be problematic for those who do not fall within the [gender] binary”. Emet shared this interesting article about a Hebrew summer camp, which is part of the small movement to add a gender-neutral option to Hebrew.

Looking at the greater scheme of things, a religion’s ability to empower or disempower isn’t about the gender of words or the methods of prayer and ritual; it’s about the individual’s enactment of their faith. Many prominent second-wave feminists were Jewish–including Betty Freidan herself–and the 1970s also saw the first generation of female rabbi in the liberal religious movements. Check out this online exhibit by the Jewish Women’s Archive for more.

My interviewee Lillian sees her identity as a Jewish woman as a dedication to “Being a Jewish woman means I am dedicated to playing a part in the family, but one who serves the good of God and love above any man or woman.”

Emet wrote:

“I am a Reform Jew and a man who happens to be transgender. […] Being a Jewish man means that I now hold power that I did not used to; […]I feel I am a key player in making Judaism a more welcoming religion for people of various genders because I have experienced the ways in which Judaism is sexist and cisnormative. And that feeling of being someone who can use their unique position to bring about change is a feeling very much molded by my Jewish upbringing; my religion has encouraged me to think for myself, interpret my religion for myself, and to work to bring about positive change to help others.”