The Lesson of Isaiah, Chapter 11
I do a lot of Internet outreach, as a disabled rabbi. A common theme I see is trans folx questioning the need for Trans Day of Remembrance, Trans Day of Visibility, etc. We all long for the day when we don’t need such days any more. When we can just live safely in society and not feel threatened.
With the loss to the White House in 2020, the GOP has become extremely vicious, and as a result, has decided to take out their vitriol on us. So, this year we have seen a record number of anti-trans laws passed. Many are clearly unconstitutional, but with Trump having packed the Supreme Court, I have little hope that they will be reversed. And while many suggest that Biden should increase the size of the Court to counter that, that’s actually a bad idea. The reason is that when, not if, the GOP next takes the White House, they will do the same thing, and we gain nothing.
Behind the GOP’s vitriol is Evangelical Christians, who don’t even know what their own bible teaches. This is in part because they don’t really read it, in part because they cherry-pick verses from it, and in part because they rely on distorted English translations that do not convey the true meanings of the text. Sadly, they will never listen to bible scholars like myself who can teach them what the texts truly say (including the New Testament!).
But I will offer a vision of hope. Last Saturday, in synagogues, we read chapter 11 of Isaiah. It offers a vision of peace that is amazing. Animals that are natural predators and prey lie down peacefully together. Then verse 9 states:
“They will no longer do evil or destroy in all God’s Holy Mountain, when people come to be as full of knowledge of God as the waters that cover the seas.”
From this verse, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, a famous rabbi from the early 20th century read that we should be vegetarian, because the word in Hebrew for destroy was very much like the word for slaughtering animals. So, this along with seeing that predators didn’t eat prey was a very strong message to him.
If more people could learn this message, perhaps we would have fewer trans murders, and less anti-trans legislation. Perhaps we could just live as PEOPLE, have jobs, housing, healthcare, etc. The National Trans Discrimination Survey shows that the basic needs of trans people are denied and it is because of this that so many of us are brought to suicide. This is also violence against us, and caused by the same reasons. And sadly, as I’ve shown in other work, rabbinic interpretation of Leviticus 18:5 shows that it is biblically prohibited to obstruct gender transition. Yet people continue to do it every day.
May we live to see the day when the vision of Isaiah chapter 11 is fulfilled. May trans people live to see the day when we can just peacefully EXIST without threat from every quarter.
Peace out,
Rona
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Category: Transgender Body & Soul
About the Author (Author Profile)
Rabbah Rona Matlow (ze/hir) is an AMAB NB trans woman. Ze is a retired navy nuclear power officer, permanently disabled veteran and ordained rabbi. Ze is the author of the upcoming book “We are God’s Children Too”, part autobiography and part text which debunks the myths that conservative clergy have been teaching about trans and queer people for millennia. Ze is a communal activist, pastoral counselor and educator. Hir websites are http://www.RabbahRona.us and http://www.RonaMatlow.com.Subscribe
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