Week 5: Transgender and Intersex

Mordekhai fed and sustained others. Rabbi Yudan said: One time he went around to all the wet nurses, but did not immediately find a wet nurse for Esther, and he nursed her himself. Rabbi Berekhya and Rabbi Abahu said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer: Milk came into him [his breasts] and he nursed her. When Rabbi Abahu expounded this in public, the audience laughed as he spoke [of a man producing milk]. He said to them: But is it not [stated in] a mishna: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: The milk of a male is not subject to ritual impurity.*

* From Mishna Makhshirin 6:7

Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: When the Holy One blessed be He created Adam the first man, He created him androgynous. That is what is written: “He created them male and female” (Genesis 5:2). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: When the Holy One blessed be He created Adam the first man, He created him with two faces [That is, two conjoined bodies, male and female] and [subsequently] He sawed him in two and made [for] him two backs, a back here and a back there. They raised an objection to him: But is it not written: “He took one of his ribs [tzalotav] … [and the Lord God built the rib that He took from the man into a woman]”? (Genesis 2:21–22). He said to them: [It means that He took] one of his two sides, as it says: “And for the tzela of the Tabernacle” (Exodus 26:20), which we translate: “And for the side of the Tabernacle...”.

(5) A woman must not put on man’s apparel, nor shall a man wear woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is abhorrent to your God ה׳.

(8) One may marry a woman on Purim. The custom of wearing masks on Purim, and of crossdressing, is totally permitted because of its innocent and joyful purpose, as is the wearing of shaatnez [mixed fabrics]. While some would prohibit it, our practice is as I have already said. So too those who playfully rob each other do not violate "Thou shalt not steal'', and such is our custom. However, you may do only as local elders permit.

The Gemara asks: And is it permitted to cause sterility? Wasn’t it taught in a baraita: From where is it derived that castration of a man is prohibited? The verse states: “Those whose testicles are bruised, or crushed, or torn, or cut, shall not be offered to the Lord, and you shall not do this in your land” (Leviticus 22:24), meaning that you shall not do it to yourselves; this is the statement of Rabbi Ḥanina. Apparently, it is prohibited to castrate a man. The Gemara answers: This prohibition applies only in a case where one intends to castrate. Here, in the cure for jaundice, the sterility happens on its own, incidental to the treatment. Proof is cited from that which Rabbi Yoḥanan said: One who seeks to castrate a rooster should remove its comb and it will become castrated on its own. Incidental castration is permitted. The Gemara rejects the proof. Didn’t Rav Ashi say: It is arrogance that it assumes when it has its comb, and when the comb is removed it becomes depressed and no longer procreates. However, it is not actually castrated. Rather, apparently this remedy for jaundice is permitted only for one who is a saris and for whom causing sterility is not a concern.