A Blessing for Transitioning Genders
by Rabbi Eli Kukla, 2006

Jewish tradition teaches us that we should be saying a hundred blessings a day to mark all themoments of kedusha, holiness, that infuse our lives. There are blessings to recite before eating
and drinking, performing religious commandments, witnessing rainbows, oceans, thunder orlightning, seeing old friends, tasting new fruits and arriving at a new season. And yet many ofthe most important moments in the lives of transgender, intersex and gender queer Jews are
not honored within our tradition.
I wrote this blessing for a friend who wanted to mark each time that he received Testosterone(hormone therapy), but it could be used for any moment in transitioning such as name or pronoun changes, coming out to loved ones or moments of medical transition. Jewish sacred texts
such as the Mishna, the Talmud, midrash and classical legal codes acknowledge the diversityof gender identities in our communities, despite the way that mainstream Jewish religious tradition has eﬀaced the experiences of transgender, intersex and gender queer Jews. This blessing
signals the holiness present in the moments of transitioning that transform Jewish lives andaﬃrms the place of these moments within Jewish sacred tradition.
This blessing takes the same form and grammatical structure as classical blessings that markwondrous occasions. “The Transforming One” as a name for God appears in the traditional
blessings of gratitude that are recited each morning. The Hebrew verb root of this word, avar,
has multiple layers of meaning within Judaism. Most literally it means to physically cross over,
however it also implies spiritual transformation in High Holiday prayers. It lies at the rootof the word Ivrim, Hebrew people. We are the Ivrim, the crossing over people, because we
physically crossed over the Jordan River to escape from slavery and oppression and spirituallytransformed ourselves. At its core, our ancestral sacred memory holds this moment of painful
and yet redemptive, physical and spiritual transition. In Modern Hebrew, this same verb root
is used to form the word, ma’avar, which means to transition genders.
The second blessing is also taken from morning liturgy. It is based on the book of Genesis,
which teaches that male and female bodies were equally created in God’s image. The Midrash,classical Jewish exegesis, adds that the Adam HaRishon, the ﬁrst human being formed inGod’s likeness, was an androgynos, an intersex person. Hence our tradition teaches that all
bodies and genders are created in God’s image whether we identify as men, women, intersex orsomething else. When we take physical or spiritual steps to more honestly manifest our gender
identities we are fulﬁlling the foundational mitzvah, religious commandment, to be partneredwith God in completing the work of creation.

©TransTorah and Rabbi Elliot Kukla, 2006

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The ﬁnal blessing is classically recited each time we reach a new event or season. Saying it atmoments of transition celebrates God’s nurturing and sustaining presence in allowing us toreach this moment of self-transformation. However, this blessing is in the ﬁrst person pluraland also marks our collective transition as a people as we begin to transform our tradition inorder to honor and celebrate the lives of transgender, intersex and gender queer Jews.

This blessing may be recited before any moment in the transitioning process:Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha’Olam Ha’Mavir L’Ovrim
Blessed are You, Eternal One, our God, Ruler of Time and Space, the Transforming
One to those who transform/transition/cross overAfterwards recite:
Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha’Olam sh’asani b’tzelmo
Blessed are You, Eternal One, our God Ruler of Time and Space who has made me
in God’s image

For special events taking place for the ﬁrst time or for the ﬁrst time in this season (such asa name or pronoun change, beginning hormone therapies or surgeries) add:
Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha’Olam Sh’ hechianu, v’ kimanu, v’ higiyanu,
la’zman hazeh
Blessed are You, Eternal One, our God Ruler of Time and Space who has kept us aliveand sustained us and helped us to arrive at this moment©TransTorah and Rabbi Elliot Kukla, 2006

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