46. Re'eh: A Transgendered Generation ~Understanding the beauty

This Shabbat and Sunday are the two days of Rosh Chodesh (beginning of a month) of the Jewish calendar month of Elul. Elul is the final month of the Jewish annual cycle, bringing us straight to Rosh Hashanah -The Jewish New Year. This month is called in Jewish Law and in Jewish Mysticism as the Month of Compassion. I remember hearing the Rebbe, of righteous memory, talking about the concept of compassion, in which the Rebbe explained that a person’s point of reference for compassion is their mother’s compassion towards them. Then the Rebbe became emotional and asked, “But what of the child who lost his mother at a very young age, and doesn’t have that point of reference? What point of reference does the child have through which to understand and embrace G-d’s compassion and this month of G-d’s compassion?” My friends, for the life of me I cannot remember the Rebbe’s answer, for I became completely absorbed in the Rebbe’s question, and lost my train of thought in following what the Rebbe was saying. I want to use this experience to dive into a human condition that is growing in momentum, that of the transgender. However, first, I want to make a very clear disclaimer: I am not discussing the legal aspects of becoming a transgender according to Jewish Law. For that, please consult a competent rabbi on the Jewish Law concerning this transformation, and concerning how the Jewish Law views a transgender post-op concerning their gender, etc. This lecture is discussing what I believe to be the underlying spiritual, mental and emotional aspects of a person’s feeling that he is a transgender. In order to stay focused in a simple manner, we will be exploring the male-to-female transgender, from which you can extrapolate how this would apply to a female-to-male transgender. All I am asking is that the audience let go of any phobias, bias, and close-mindedness so that we may enter into the spiritual world and see the beauty of what is taking place in our generation, and how to manifest it in the healthy, kosher and beautiful manner, of which G-d intended this experience to be. If you have any questions or comments on this lecture please email Rabbi Avrohom Lipszyc at [email protected] -------- Here is a link to the written notes of this lecture, which will be available until September 15, 2016, after which you can email [email protected] to request them: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4614078/46.%20Re%27eh%205776%20Parsha%20Class.pdf