How This Hasidic Rabbi Became A Trans Woman Activist | NowThis
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Published 2017-11-03
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Raised in the Hasidic community in Williamsburg, Abby Stein went from being a Hasidic rabbi to a trans activist.
“To be honest, I didn’t know the difference between boys and girls physically because it was never discussed in our community, she explained.
At 15, Abby’s family sent her to study to become a rabbi in the Catskill mountains of New York. While she knew something we wrong, she suppressed her identity, and never openly strayed from her private teachings. She stayed until she was 20, at which point she was already married with son. The birth made her once again question what she was feeling about her identity and why the prayers and practices in her community weren’t giving her solace.
She began learning about the trans community secretly on the Internet — which is generally condemned in the Hasidic community. After doing research for three months, she eventually decided to tell her wife how she felt, and to leave her community. She was then accepted into Columbia University to get an education, but was still living as a man.
After years of struggling with her identity, she finally started hormone therapy in 2015 to start her transition process. Today, she is a blogger, speaker, and activist within the trans community.
“For people who are struggling themselves, first all know that we are out there,” she explained. “There’s so many people out there who are going to unconditionally accept you and support you. You can and will succeed.”
#Hasidic #Rabbi #Transgender #Trans #LGBTQ #OrthodoxJudaism #Judaism
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All Comments (21)
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So sad that she was rejected by her parents. As a mother, I don't think there is anything that would make me reject my children. My kids are my greatest accomplishment and my greatest joy.
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She worked at my camp for a year and I didn’t know until like a year or two later her incredible story. I’m so glad I got to know her, she was really just so kind and joyful.
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Hormones really are powerful chemicals. She’s very feminine. I hope her life gets better and better.
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The media is addicted to stories like this
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When they accidentally take their own medicine...😂😂
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No one laments that she has no visitation with the child?
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You really are a lovely woman - I wish you a happy life!!!
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i wish more and more jewish men become like this.
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Fascinating story. I cannot imagine what gender dysphoria must feel like, and how hard that would be, particularly for someone raised in an orthodox environment in which they know they will undoubtedly be rejected by the people closest to them.
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She didn't speak English until adulthood ... sounds fluent to me
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I would have tried to get out before I had kids.
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no mention of her son and how she feels about leaving him behind in that community.
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LOL "The dangers of the internet?" Go to the Marcy and Division Brooklyn library. You'll see many of these hasidic men using the computers to get on the internet.
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This makes so much sense!
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Wow. Shocking but great story. I wish you with all my heart that you would be happy.
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5:12 that wave made me smile so much, I don't know why
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Look at her eyes ... she has a very deep and loving soul !! 💞💞🖒👏
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All I'm interested in is how did he get his hair back? If that that's the key to getting a full head of hair I'm going purse shopping tomorrow!
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Abby is an amazing person. She has overcome a great deal. Surely she carries a sadness about her family's rejection. But she moves on through sheer will and happiness at the world she has found. And, her intelligence and infectious joy make her very special. This is a story worthy of a major film. Why a film? It would open many closed minds to a story worth telling. It might also reveal a hypocrisy within a religious community that is overdue. .
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He’s such a liar, 5:42, they have stores and shops, and restaurants in the ultra orthodox communities. It’s the same basic thing.
