Abby Stein for the Forward Image by Jake Sojcher

Abby Stein is a proud Jewish woman. But growing up, she didn’t feel that Judaism had a space for people like her.

Abby was raised in an ultra-Orthodox hasidic Jewish community, and as she puts it, “growing up, we had a very strong focus on studying, researching, questioning and finding answers in texts.”

The Torah and Talmud — and rabbis’ interpretations of them — dictate every aspect of Orthodox life. These texts are seen by the community to prohibit anything but traditional heterosexual marriages — which made growing up as a woman inhabiting a male body very challenging.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

But when she turned 15, Abby started to find answers. She discovered a Kabbalistic text that “for the first time ever gave me any sense that who I am might be valid at all, and specifically within the context of Judaism.”

Abby, an ordained rabbi, has since left the hasidic community and made a Jewish life of her own, a process she describes in her book, “Becoming Eve.”

In the following video, Abby Stein explains three texts that have helped her make sense of her own identity as a trans Jewish woman.

“While I don’t think that we need text to justify who we are…I do think that [texts] create something so beautiful and powerful,” she told the Forward.

“I’m hoping that looking at these texts and sharing them could help us all, if we wish, to find a space for us within Judaism to learn not to tolerate who we are, but to celebrate who we are.”

Watch Abby Stein’s video here:

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount