As our modern world creates more and more laws banning transgender children and adults from participating in sports, I wonder, what wisdom our Jewish text might have for us around what teams are for?
Team-building and the tabernacle
In a community, everyone is trying to find space for themselves: a mass of interdependent people with their own needs and agendas. In a team, the members have a unifying goal. The Tabernacle gave the Israelites the opportunity to work on their first shared project. Bezalel and Oholiab were the first coaches. The Israelites had people who wanted to do the work contributing their skills. And there were the first “boosters”—people who appreciated the work and offered support to make it happen.
In Exodus 35:10 it says, “Let all who are skilled come and make all that the Lord has commanded.” G-d put into the hearts of Oholiab and Bezalel the ability to teach (Exodus 35:34) so they could lead the team forward.
Earning a name
Bezalel and Oholiab had the same intentions in their hearts, but brought very different backgrounds to this project. Bezalel had a pedigree—he was the son of Uri of the tribe of Judah. A midrash says Uri’s father Hur died to try to prevent the sin of the golden calf. Bezalel came to his role with a reputation built on the greatness of his ancestors.
In contrast, Oholiab was of the less mighty tribe of Dan. Rashi says Oholiab was a descendent of the handmaiden Bilhah, not of Rachel, Jacob’s most beloved, or Leah, his other wife. Oholiab’s heritage alone did not make him the most likely choice for this project.
Yet together, they partnered to direct the creation of the tabernacle, the task allowing them to define themselves based on their actions—not their heritage.
For trans athletes, the importance of being able to define oneself like this is key—since they may feel the gender assigned to them was erroneous, and desire to build their own identities.
Teams offer another way to name ourselves and to create an identity by our actions. The poet Zelda writes, “Each of us has a name given by our enemies and given by our love.” Will we allow trans athletes to be named by their enemies? Or will we let trans people have the opportunity to create a name doing something they love?
Bezalel came to be known as the seer, the unifier and beautifier of Israel. He and Oholiab came to be defined by their actions instead of their backgrounds.
Passion and Potential Growth
Under the leadership of Bezalel and Oholiab, all those whose hearts were stirred up came to build. But they didn’t come to the task knowing how to build a tabernacle. Ramban says what was stirred up in their hearts was the ability to see their own capacity to learn. Passion can motivate us to persevere through difficult moments. For trans folks who love sports, being on the team reduces the likelihood of mental health stressors and depression by connecting them to their passion. The Trevor Project reports that almost half of trans and nonbinary people have considered suicide; one in seven trans and nonbinary 13- to 17-year-olds have attempted suicide. Can we make space on teams today for all whose hearts are stirred?
Developing Complementary Skills
Since each team member is responsible for fulfilling a specific part of the bigger vision, teams develop communication skills to support their collaboration. In order to meet their goals, team members have to develop problem-solving skills and to take decisive action to manage time constraints. Rashi defined three kinds of learning: learning from others (hochmah); skills that come from our own insight (tvunah); and things that come from divine inspiration (da’at). Team members develop these three kinds of learning as they step into unknown tasks and collaborate.
There was room for everyone to build the Tabernacle. The workers were supported by everyone whose heart moved them to contribute. Women were so eager to help they were spinning wool while it was still on the goats (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 74b and 99a).
All these people coming together not only had an opportunity to define themselves and create names for themselves, they had an opportunity to bond as they shared their complementary skills. Together they became stronger than each could be on their own. The TorahRefers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, also called the Five Books of Moses, Pentateuch or the Hebrew equivalent, Humash. This is also called the Written Torah. The term may also refer to teachings that expound on Jewish tradition. Read more forecasts the message of the American Psychological Association—participating in teams enhances psychological well-being. Denying trans youth spots on sports teams doesn’t just keep them off the field, it keeps them from accessing a source of support and strength.
The Israelites set out on their journey into the wilderness because the Egyptians had come to fear them as they became more numerous (Exodus 1:12). Similarly, some Americans seem to fear that trans athletes have become too numerous and will deprive cis women and girl athletes of the rights earned from Title IX. But there is not an epidemic of trans athletes. Among the half million NCAA athletes in the U.S. there were about 10 transgender athletes. Banning trans athletes deprives a vulnerable community of support, of found family, of a chance to create an identity based on their achievements. May our own hearts be stirred to learn ways to step up to ensure everyone has the support they need.
