On March 24, Moving Traditions hosted a webinar for parents and educators of Jewish youth. In Supporting Our Trans & Queer Youth Now, co-sponsored by Keshet, we talked about how to support Jewish youth in our current reality – socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
Thank you to our panel of experts who approached this topic from legal, Jewish, and youth perspectives, featuring:
- Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson, (he/him), professor, writer, journalist, and rabbi
- Katya Gerwein, MD (she/her), is a parent of two adult trans kids and a pediatrician at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health
- Ari Merrill, (he/him), a high school senior and former Kol Koleinu Teen Feminist Fellow
- Rabbi Daniel Brenner, (he/him), VP of Education, Moving Traditions (moderator)
Now Launching: Tzelem Online
Moving Traditions and JFCS Philadelphia are excited to bring you Tzelem Online, a nationwide monthly group for LGBTQ+, nonbinary, and gender-expansive Jewish teens.
Tzelem offers a safe, supportive space for 8th-12th grade teens to make new friends and explore issues together.
The first session will be on March 31, so sign up now!
Resources from Moving Traditions
Special Edition Curriculum: Trans Day of Visibility
We invite parents and educators to use the text studies and discussion questions in this excerpt from our Special Edition Curriculum for Trans Day of Visibility: Exploring the Many Genders of Judaism and Around the World. For the complete curriculum, request access.
Blessing of the Children
Download our blessing card, which includes masculine, feminine, and nonbinary language from Moving Traditions’ B-Mitzvah Family Education program.
jGirls+ Magazine
Explore essays, poems, and artwork about the experiences of queer and trans teens on jGirls+ Magazine, an online feminist literary magazine written by and for Jewish teen girls and nonbinary teens.
Additional Resources
Keshet: For LGBTQ+ Equality in Jewish Life
In addition to co-sponsoring this webinar, Keshet runs many initiatives in support of trans and queer Jews. We invite you to sign the Jewish Pledge to Affirm the Dignity of Trans, Nonbinary, and Intersex People, add your organization to Thrive: The Jewish Coalition to Defend Trans and LGBQ+ Youth, or explore Keshet’s Resources for Trans Day of Visibility.
Tefillat Trans
The Trans Halakha Project, an initiative of SVARA, curates resources that have been created for trans Jews, by trans Jews and engage trans & non-binary people in the creation of specific rituals and blessings.
Why LGBTQ+ inclusion matters
Join Rabbi Nikki DeBlosi, PhD, for Zoom discussions with frank and personally-relevant explorations of Jewish text and tradition designed for those who want to understand why LGBTQ+ inclusion matters to everyone, regardless of our identities.
Opportunities for Teens
Teen Trips & Fellowships
Our Teen Trips and Fellowships are great places for teens to grow their activist skills, find community with their peers, and explore leadership roles. Applications for jGirls+ Magazine staff editors and photographers are due on April 7; applications for Kol Koleinu and Kumi: Foundation are due on May 9.
- jGirls+ Magazine staff editors and photographers produce an online feminist literary magazine by and for Jewish teen girls and nonbinary teens to make their voices heard. Serving on the jGirls+ staff is both a hands-on creative position and an exciting leadership development opportunity for 10th-12th graders.
- Kumi: Foundation is an opportunity for Jewish teens in 10-12th grades to explore interlocking issues of identity while building skills to create community and disrupt racism, sexism, and antisemitism.
- The Meyer-Gottesman Kol Koleinu Teen Feminist Fellowship is a distinctive opportunity for 9th-12th graders to build intergenerational and peer-to-peer relationships, to learn how to effectively speak their minds and build their activism toolbox to create change in their community.
Further Reading
- Pew Research Center: Americans have grown more supportive of restrictions for trans people in recent years
A new Pew Research Center survey finds that majorities of U.S. adults favor or strongly favor laws and policies that restrict transgender people.
- M. Gessen in New York Times: The Hidden Motive Behind Trump’s Attacks on Trans People
“The Trump administration’s barrage of attacks on trans people can seem haphazard, but as elements of a denationalization project, they fall into place.”
- Jay Michaelson: The Trans Conversation We’re Not Having
Understanding gender diversity is not just about rights and wokeness. It’s about profound values and human experiences. And if our conversation doesn’t deepen, queer people are going to lose.
- Andrew Solomon: Far from the Tree : Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
“All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent parents should accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves.”
- GLAD Law: Identity Document Updates for Transgender People: Current Considerations
Updated information about federal identity documents and travel safety for trans and nonbinary people.
- Jay Michaelson in Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera: Is Religious Freedom for Liberals, Too?
“Is religious liberty for liberals, as well as conservatives? We may be about to find out.”