“I’m the Ghost of Torah Future”: Trans Jews-by-Choice, Olam Ha’Ba, and the Changing Landscape of American Judaism

This paper traces some of the experiences of trans and nonbinary converts to Judaism in the contemporary United States, looking specifically at an online queer digital yeshiva, Yeshiva Yavne. I argue, on the basis of around a year and a half of digital ethnographic research and interviews, that trans converts uniquely navigate simultaneous processes of gender transition and religious conversion, disidentifying with both Jewish history and identity, still engaging with them for the sake of rendering Jewish tradition more inclusive—in terms of gender, race, and disability. This presentation argues that trans converts eschew rigid gendered/religious binaries within a variety of Jewish denominations, “queering” and “transing” Torah study in order to shape Jewish tradition in productive, justice-oriented ways, all in service of working to bring about “olam ha’ba,” or “the world-to-come.” Trans converts offer exciting challenges to contemporary American Judaisms, and their attempts to rework it deserve study.