Qalonymos ben Qalonymos, Provence, 1323

Strong statues and awesome commandments, six hundred and thirteen. Who is the man who can do all that is written, so that he might be spared?

Oh, but had the artisan who made me created me instead - a fair woman. Today I would be wise and insightful. We would weave, my friends and I, and in the moonlight spin our yarn, and tell our stories to one another, from dusk till midnight...

If my Father in heaven has decreed upon me and has maimed me with an immutable deformity, then I do not wish to remove it. And the sorrow of the impossible is a human pain that nothing will cure and for which no comfort can be found.

So I will bear and suffer until I die and wither in the ground. And since I have learned from out tradition that we bless both the good and the bitter, I will bless in a voice hushed and weak, Blessed are your, O Lord, who has not made me a woman.

Responsa by Rabbi Yosef Pallache, Izmir, 1896

QUESTION: Is a proper get necessary in the following circumstance: a certain man married a young Jewish woman, and was with her in the manner of men and women, but after some years an event occurred to her and she was changed from female to male in every respect... If [the husband] wishes to remarry and take another wife, does this man need to give a proper get? Or rather, does he not need to give a get since she is not a women [any longer] but a man? Do not be surprised by this question, since all things are possible and there is nothing new under the sun...

RESPONSE: ... It seems logical that since this woman has many visible signs that he is a man, as can be seen by everyone, he does not need a get, since he is not a woman but a full man... This it seems to me that when [ths man] says the morning blessings he should not say, "Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who has not made me a woman," since he has not been made a woman at first, in his mother's womb, and was brought into the world in the form of a woman; rather he should say, "Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who has transformed me into a man."

Letter to the Yiddish Forward, New York, 1936

Worthy Editor of the Forward: Not long ago I read a story in the Forward that took place in America, about how a girl became a man. But that's not news to the people in the town where I'm from. Permit me to tell the story in your paper.

In our shtetl of Krivozer, Ukraine, everyone knew Beyle, the girl who sold herring, geese, and other foodstuffs. She was a tall redhead and sturdily built. She also spoke with a deep bass voice and walked about with hard and heavy steps...

Years flew by and Beyle grew, too, until she reached the age of 23. One fine morning Beyle left for Odessa, where she was introduce to an important professor. She spent a long time under his care, under which Beyle eventually became a man...

The the shtetle, we waited impatiently for her return. And on the day when Beyle was to arrive, half the shtetle ran to the bridge to greet her, or better said, to greet him. And she wasn't called Beyle anymore: now she was Berel. And when we saw "her," it was as if we were stunned: Before our eyes was a handsome, healthy, redheaded man. Anyone who didn't know Beyle previously would never have known that he had been a girl.

From then on in the shtetle, "she" was called Berel-Beyle. With the help of the professor, the government freed him from military service. Berel-Beyle soon learned to daven and was in synagogue every day. Later on, he got married to an old girlfriend, Black Rachel, who was a nice girl. In our shtetl, Berel-Beyle always had a good name as a fine, upstanding Jew.