Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), memorializes trans individuals who have died because of anti-transgender discrimination and victimization. It occurs annually on and around November 20 each year. We invite you to explore, learn, and participate with your Jewish community this year. Below are some resources to get you started. And if you missed our earlier post by Rafi Daugherty, on why marking this day is important, you can find it here.
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Featured Resources
A Jewish Guide for Marking Transgender Day of Remembrance
Contains readings, personal stories from transgender people, quotes from rabbinic leaders, and suggested concrete action steps.
Jewish Observance
See how Jewish organizations are observing TDOR this year and check out events happening around the country.
How is your Jewish community planning to observe? Tell us about it here.
“When Do You Take A Stand?” Guide
This Hanukah guide, part of the Ask Big Questions/Hillel, is perfect for group discussions about the risks and rewards of taking a stand. The guide features an important, moving essay by author S. Bear Bergman about the intersection of Hanukkah and Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Trans Day of Remembrance Info Sheet
Includes tips for hosting a successful remembrance event, guiding principles, ideas for events, and planning tips.
Liturgy
Transgender Shabbat Liturgy
Shabbat services with liturgy, poems, and other readings specifically compiled for TDOR.
Prayer for Transgender Day of Remembrance
A prayer (in English) written by Rabbi Reuben Zellman on the occasion of TDOR.
D’var Torah
Transgendered Hearts: Abraham, Sarah and Isaac
In this d’var Torah, professor, poet, and Keshet board member Joy Ladin retells the biblical stories of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac through the lens of their gender and life transitions as a way for transgender readers to find themselves in the Torah.
Learn more
Parashat Toledot: Transgender Day of Remembrance
In this sermon about identity and self-understanding, Kadin Henningsen highlights the ways that characters in this Torah portion come to know themselves and what we as LGBT people can glean from this.
Surely God is in This Place – a d’var Torah for TDOR
Vanessa “Vinny” Prell offers some insights into how we, as queer Jews and allies, can understand and connect with what it means to be transgender.
A brief d’var on Vayeitzei and Trans* Day of Remembrance
Additional resources on transgender Jewish issues
Making Your Jewish Congregation or Community More Transgender Friendly
A brochure with concrete steps that Jewish communities can take to be more inclusive of their transgender members.
All-Gender Restroom Signs
For many transgender people and people who don’t conform to societal gender norms, using a public restroom is a daily struggle. Use this sign at your next event to explain why you have created an all-gender bathroom.
Transgender and Jewish
A terrific series by The Forward exploring transgender and Jewish identity.
From the Keshet Blog
- Finding Fallen Sparks in the Mosh Pit: The drummer of the popular transgender and Jewish band Schmekel shares their search to find a Jewish community that finally felt right.
- Why I Care About Trans Day of Remembrance as a (“Cisgender”) Gay Man: Dan Schulman explains the importance of being a trans ally, and why that “T” in LGBT is so vital.
- Dear Abby: My Parent is Transgender: Who better to field questions about what a kid of a trans parent might be going through than a kid of a trans parent?
- My Jewish Transgender Journey: In this powerful first-person piece our Colorado Community Organizer, Rafi Daugherty, shares his path to finding himself as a trans Jew.
- Shipwrecked with God: In this profoundly personal post for Yom Kippur, poet and professor Joy Ladin explores the book of Jonah, coming to terms with her identity as a woman, and her relationship with God.
- Learning to Return to Myself: Emily Aviva Kapor reflects on her identity as a trans woman, and what the season of teshuva, return and repentance, looks like now that she is listening to her own “still, small inner voice.”
- She who is He: When her sister became her brother, everything and nothing changed for this Jewish teen.
- Queer, Trans*, and In Israel: What’s it like being a queer Jewish trans* American in Israel
- Transforming Stories: A Small Revolution in a Synagogue Book Group: What happens when a trans* rabbinical student introduces Joy Ladin’s powerful memoir to her synagogue book group?
- Kavod ha’Meit: Trans Issues for the Hevra Kadisha: Eight questions a hevra kadisha should ask to make Jewish rituals for death more inclusive of transgender Jews.
- Living “Stealth,” As a Convert and a Trans Person: A teen talks about why he no longer feels like he always needs to come out as trans, or as a convert to Judaism.
- Wrapping Myself in the Fringes: For Emily Aviva Kapor, creating a tallit that affirmed her trans identity was a healing process.
Honor a transgender Jewish hero
Kate Bornstein is a Jewish transgender author, playwright, performance artist and gender theorist.
“I AM: Trans People Speak” Videos
Check out this series of videos of transgender Jews and allies to trans Jews. Tremendous gratitude to Keshet members Alex, David, Stacy, Stephanie, and Suzie for sharing your lives with us and to the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition for this project.
Hanukkah
Pronounced: KHAH-nuh-kah, also ha-new-KAH, an eight-day festival commemorating the Maccabees’ victory over the Greeks and subsequent rededication of the temple. Falls in the Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually corresponds with December.
Shabbat
Pronounced: shuh-BAHT or shah-BAHT, Origin: Hebrew, the Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
tallit
Pronounced: tah-LEET or TAH-liss, Origin: Hebrew, prayer shawl.
Torah
Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses.
