Transgender Kids, Covert Convert Bat Mitzvah and Vintage Necktie Aliyah Quandary - Dear Rabbi Zahavy - Your Jewish Standard Talmudic Advice for July 2017 (A classic oldie but goodie column!)

Dear Rabbi Zahavy Your Jewish Standard Talmudic Advice Column

Dear Rabbi Zahavy,

I recently asked my friend how her young grade-school kids — a boy and girl — were doing. She replied that they are fine, and they have new names. The boy now has a girl’s name and the girl has a boy’s name. I asked why? She matter-of-factly replied that they both are transgender.

I was dumbfounded to hear this. I said nothing to her. Should I ask her more about this? Should I discuss this with a responsible authority?

Worried About Trans Kids

Dear Worried,

Yes, you have every right to ask the parent for more details, and to seek out, with sensitivity, more information on this topic from friends or experts or from your own counselors. The mother makes no secret of the facts. She is open and proud of her children and their gender identities.

Gender dysphoria is a seriously hot topic this year in social and political discussions, and in the media (2017). You will find many experts and pundits out there willing to share advice and counsel on the subject.

Deep Dives Podcasts into Jewish Scholarship

All new - a lively discussion of the book "God's Favorite Prayers" and the research of Tzvee Zahavy and samples of the professor's research. Deep Dives into the distinguished scholarship of Tzvee's esteemed teachers, Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik, Professor Haym Soloveitchik, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein and Professor Jacob Neusner. With appreciation to the incredible NotebookLM.

Popular Podcast: Rabbi Joseph Baer Soloveitchik's 1932 doctoral dissertation, "Pure Thinking and the Constitution of Being in Hermann Cohen’s Work," critically analyzes the epistemology and metaphysics of the prominent neo-Kantian philosopher Hermann Cohen. The unpublished English translation text includes a foreword by the translator, Tzvee Zahavy, providing biographical context for Soloveitchik's time in Berlin and Cohen's intellectual significance. The dissertation itself, as suggested by Mark Smilowitz's overview, examines Cohen's "scientific idealism," which posits that objects are constituted by thought, particularly mathematical thought. Soloveitchik's work identifies limitations in Cohen's system, particularly in accounting for individual experience, sensation, and consciousness, hinting at Soloveitchik's own developing philosophical positions like epistemological pluralism. The text also features excerpts from Soloveitchik's dissertation chapters, such as those discussing the law-scientific character of thinking, consciousness, and the concept of being and reality within Cohen's framework. Ultimately, the sources offer insight into a significant engagement with neo-Kantian philosophy and the early intellectual development of a major 20th-century Jewish thinker.