In 2021-22, I interviewed 45 transgender Jews from across the US. Around 33% of participants had converted or were in the process of converting to Judaism.

Academic literature has noted a significant trend of transgender Jewish converts for over a decade. In 2010, Chav Doherty noted that “there seemed to be a disproportionate number of Jewish transmen in the [San Francisco Bay Area female-to-male transgender community], and several self-identified as converts.” More recently, a 2019 study noted a trend of Jewish converts who underwent gender transition during their conversion process.

Conversion is deeply personal, and no two converts are the same. However, if there is a larger trend of transgender people converting to Judaism, it bears investigation. Based on themes from my interviews, here are a few potential factors:

Factor 1: Souls at Sinai

A well-known midrash states that every Jewish soul, past, present, and future, stood together with the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. Rabbinic discourse builds upon this midrashThis word is used in two ways, as both a concept and a literature. As a concept, midrash is the expansive interpretation of biblical texts. The term is used to describe the practice of rabbinic interpretation. As a text, it refers to specific collections of interpretations, particularly from the third to ninth centuries in the Land of Israel and Babylonia. Plural: Midrashim
Read more and concludes that all converts have Jewish souls which accepted the Jewish covenant at Sinai, but were born into non-Jewish bodies (Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 3:1; Babylonian TalmudReferring to one of two collections, the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, edited in the 6th century, that contains hundreds of years of commentary, discussion, and exploration of the ideas in the Mishnah. One could describe it as Mishnah + Gemara = Talmud Read more, Shabbat 146a).

This concept resembles the contemporary rhetoric that transgender people have gendered souls which do not match their bodies. This soul/body incongruence, which can be at least partially corrected via transition/conversion, resonated with many. As Skye put it, “converting feels like transitioning. It feels almost like a one for one kind of experience.”

Factor 2: Transgender Chain Reaction

It may be that the profound experience of conversion or gender transition could catalyze a person to investigate other aspects of their identity which cause them discomfort. Dov said that his gender dysphoria was aggravated by his desire to become Jewish: “I was actually experiencing Jewish dysphoria. It wasn’t even just gender dysphoria… I wanted to be a Jewish man.”

Around 81% of participants, when asked, said they felt their Jewish identity was connected to their transgender identity. As Leora put it, “Being someone who will someday be a Jewish woman is intrinsically tied to my perception of my gender identity, my gender expression, my gender presentation.” For these individuals, both conversion and transition fulfilled a spiritual need. Jacob said, “It’s a matter of trying to get myself to where I think I belong, not just accept that I will never feel like I belong anywhere.”

Factor 3: Yearning for G-d

Still another explanation may be the proliferance of trans people who have been exiled from their non-Jewish families or religious spaces. These exiles still yearn for a connection with G-d and a holy community. They may feel a kindred spirit with the Jewish narrative of yearning for a past they cannot return to. And, as more Jewish communities have welcomed LGBTQ+ individuals, is it any wonder that these individuals would consider conversion?

Conversion classes create opportunities to safely unpack religious trauma. If there are so many trans Jewish converts, how many more trans people started their conversion education and did not complete it, but developed a healthier relationship with G-d through rabbinic guidance? Perhaps if other religious communities were more accepting, fewer trans people would seek pastoral support from Jewish clergy.

Trans-Movement Affiliation

Trans Jews, on the whole, appear to be moving away from strict movement affiliations. Just over half of all participants identified as non- or multi-denominational, using terms like “Re-frum” (Reform + frum), “Conservadox,” or “DIY Judaism,” or distinguishing between the synagogue they attend and their personal practice (i.e. “Reform shul, not necessarily Reform ideas”). Elsie joked that “Some people get a sex change. I had a sect change. I go to everything in the Jewish community. I go to the ultra-Orthodox Chabad where all the women wear long skirts, and ultra-liberal Keshet, where half the men do too.”

Many of these cross-denominational participants identified as more observant than the average person in their “home” congregation. A common explanation was that they valued more observant practices but did not feel they would be welcome in congregations where that kind of practice was normative. For example, these participants felt it would be easier to keep kosher, study halakha (Jewish law), or dress modestly in a Reform congregation than to be transgender in a Conservative or Orthodox community.

Converts’ Troubles and Finding Euphoria

If being both transgender and Jewish is difficult, being a convert certainly doesn’t make it easier. To some, simply being transgender is enough reason to consider your conversion invalid. Leora said that the hardest part of being a trans Jewish convert was “coming to the conclusion that there are Jewish spaces… that would not be safe to go to, spaces where my status as a Jew would not be recognized, regardless of what I did, because of my queerness or because of my trans experience. No matter how dutifully I observe halakha, no matter how Jewishly I live my life, there are some people for whom it will never be good enough.”

Nachshon said that his Jewish and trans identities have been respected in in-person communities, but that he receives hateful comments on his social media accounts. “Most of what I get online is like, ‘well, your conversion wasn’t valid because you have to accept all of the mitzvot. If you’re trans or queer, you can’t accept all of them, so that negates your conversion.’ It’s like, take it up with HaShem. HaShem brought me here.”

As Erin put it, “I didn’t choose to be trans, but I chose to love myself enough to transition. I chose to pursue my conversion. I chose to actively live a life that I am happy in.” While there are certainly differences between a religious conversion and a gender transition, both require the internal fortitude to make a choice that is both difficult and unquestionably the right one.

Notes & Citations

Some participants were in the midst of their conversion process and not technically Jewish yet. In my call for participants, I asked for “Jews and Jewish-adjacent” (including patrilineals, current conversion candidates, and any others with Jewish identities that are recognized by some but not all streams of Judaism). This language was deemed optimal so as to recognize the complexity of Jewish identity politics.

Participants selected their preferred pseudonyms and pseudo-pronouns to protect their anonymity while minimizing gender dysphoria.

Bourgeois, E. (2021, November 17). “I Converted to Judaism. But I’m Not a Jew By Choice.” HeyAlma. https://www.heyalma.com/i-converted-to-judaism-but-im-not-a-jew-by-choice/

Dzmura, N. (2010). Balancing on the Mechitza. North Atlantic Books.

Gordon, Adami. (2019). The Intersectionality of Transgender and Jewish Identity and the Search for the Authentic Sense of Self. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. https://unr.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01UNR_INST/1uqeehi/cdi_proquest_journals_2054002805

Townsend Translation of Midrash Tanchuma. (1989). Sefaria. https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Nitzavim.3.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

The William Davidson Talmud. (2017). Sefaria. https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.146a.1?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en https://www.sefaria.org/Shevuot.39a.22?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en