In this episode of ADERABA, hosts Gilah Kletenik and Rafe Neis explore the question, 'Have Trans People Always Existed?' by examining rabbinic texts and different approaches to sexgender. They discuss the current attacks on trans people, especially youth, and the response from the trans community and their allies. The conversation examines a passage from the Tosefta, a 3rd century rabbinic text concerning the so-called "androgynous" person. It then turns to the Babylonian Talmud, a rabbinic text edited into the 8th century, to discuss Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Laqish and what a story about them tells us about gender identity in late antique Jewish culture. The hosts raise critical questions about the sexgender binary, arguing against a transhistorical, essentializing conception, which challenges the assumption that cis people have always existed.

00:00 Introduction and Episode Premise

00:26 Current Challenges for Trans People

01:32 Historical Existence of Trans People

03:38 Rabbinic Texts and Gender Diversity

06:10 The Androgynous Figure in Rabbinic Literature

08:49 Obligations and Entitlements of the Androgynous

15:21 Philosophical Implications and Practical Questions

23:48 Exploring Gender and Slavery in Rabbinic Texts

25:04 Intersectionality in Jewish Law

27:30 Economic and Social Classifications

31:16 Challenging Binary Gender in Rabbinic Sources

35:12 The Story of Rabbi Yohannan and Reish Laish

42:26 Concluding Thoughts on Gender and Rabbinic Literature