Traditional societies relate to menstrual blood in various ways. Some ascribe special powers to a woman during her menstruation, while others regard her with disdain, excluding her in this way from the social sphere (Wayyiqra’ 15:19). According to the anthropologist Mary Douglas, rituals surrounding menstruating women serve purposes such as: “affirming male superiority, reinforcing gender-segregated social roles, and attacking rivals” (Douglas, Purity and Danger, p. 171). In traditional Jewish communities, marital separation is observed during menstruation, under penalty of kareth—spiritual excision (Wayyiqra’ 18:19, 29).
Judith Butler notes that “when the relevant ‘culture’ that ‘constructs’ gender is framed in terms of law or commandments, then gender seems fixed and determined, as if defined by biological destiny. In such a case, it is not biology, but culture, that becomes destiny” (Butler, Gender Trouble, p. 11). In this way, the precepts of the Torah become guardians of the binary gender distinction—male or female.
Today, these assumptions face challenges, due to scientific discoveries identifying six distinct biological markers of sex: chromosomes, hormones, gonads, brain sex, reproductive systems, and external genitalia. Although the Torah does not explicitly address those born with both sexual organs (androginus) or indeterminate sexual traits (tumtum), the Hakhamim of the Talmud did. Because of the ambiguity in assigning a fixed identity in Hebrew society, the Sages ruled that both the obligations of men and women should apply to such individuals—so as not to violate any sexual prohibitions. This ruling appears to reflect two considerations: the social construction of Jewish society, and the Sages’ biological understanding of their time.
Given the six biological determinants of sex now recognized by modern science, rabbinic authorities are called upon to legislate with sensitivity to current knowledge. The psychoanalyst Joshua Loth Liebman writes:
“The general strategy employed by religion in confronting evil can be summed up in one word: repression. With few exceptions, Western religion has insisted that men and women can only become good by suppressing sensual thoughts and impulses. This repression—the silencing of the dreaded voice of ‘sin’—is responsible for much of the pain, illness, and anxiety afflicting the modern soul” (Peace of Mind, p. 26).
He adds:
“Outraged by tyrannical repression, our unconventional or unacceptable impulses disguise themselves in new forms. They become our worst inner enemies, attacking our nerves, besieging our peace of mind, tormenting us with guilt and failure, depressing us, weakening us, and driving us to compulsive excess against our will” (ibid., p. 27).
The spirit of the Torah is to free the captive—not only in body but in mind and soul. As we recite in the Haggadah:
“In every generation, each Yisra’eli must see themself as if they personally came out of Miṣrayim.”
How does this apply to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities in the twenty-first century? Where is the “Moshe” who will lead these souls out of societal bondage? They too are worthy of redemption.