Jewish Rituals for Deceased Trans Members



Religion, even for the not religious, is so diverse and otherworldly one can only absorb a little at a time. While I have Jewish friends and relatives, I never knew about the exacting rituals that are observed at death. 

The link discusses in great detail the dilemma faced by the faith for the death ritual. The old rules are very gender specific. Appropriate people like relative and such are to prepare the body for ceremony and burial. This includes washing the body, etc. Only men or only women are to prepare bodies of their own gender.

Then, along came people who changed gender, trans, during their lives. Some living trans people made their wishes know about these ceremonies while still alive. Others in the faith pondered what to do. Sometimes trans people get surgery for the change and some do not. Some get some but not complete surgeries. 

I did not read the link carefully, but I believe the consensus of all this is that in death the body should be treated as of the gender the deceased self identified. "I'm a woman" is all those doing the ceremonies need to know regardless of their personal opinions about gender change.

This is a good way, I think, to treat the entire trans matter. Today we see legislators pondering and arguing about women who are trans competing in sports with women who are not. With all women and all men having different skills and strength levels I don't see how government of other official bodies can make determinations about what is "fair" competition. We've seen the accusation made about women who have never self identified as male who appear stronger and faster than most other women. 

Jews have been around longer than Christians and maybe they have acquired wisdom some branches of Christianity need to have.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more