Abby Stein

Abby Stein
Stein in 2019
Born (1991-10-01) October 1, 1991 (age 33)[1]
New York City, U.S.
NationalityAmerican, Israeli
EducationYeshivath Viznitz (semikhah)
Columbia University (BA)
Occupations
  • Rabbi
  • activist
  • author
Years active2012–present
EmployerCongregation Kolot Chayeinu
Known forTransgender activism
TelevisionDark Net
Spouse
Fraidy Horowitz
​
​
(m. 2010⁠–⁠2013)​
Children1
Writing career
Genrenon-fiction
SubjectsMemoir, LGBT literature, Jewish literature
Notable workBecoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman
Literature portal
WebsiteThe Second Transition

Abby Chava Stein (born October 1, 1991[1]) is an Israeli-American transgender author, rabbi, activist,[2] blogger,[3] model, and speaker. She is the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community, and is a direct descendant of Hasidic Judaism's founder, the Baal Shem Tov.[4][5] In 2015, she founded one of the first support groups nationwide for trans people with an Orthodox Jewish background who have left Orthodox Judaism.[6]

Stein is also the first woman, and the first openly transgender woman, to have been ordained by an Orthodox Jewish institution, having received her rabbinical degree in 2011, before coming out as transgender.[7] Stein did not work as a rabbi immediately after leaving Orthodox Judaism,[8] by 2019, she had been working as a rabbi again, and as of 2020 works in many capacities as a rabbi.[9] In 2018, she co-founded Sacred Space, a multi-faith project "which celebrates women and non-binary people of all faith traditions".[10]

For the Jewish year of 5785, beginning in September 2024, Stein will serve as part-time rabbi of Kolot Chayeinu, a progressive non-denominational synagogue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York.[11]

  1. ^ a b Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman
  2. ^ "Gentile and the Jew with Yiscah Smith and Abby Stein". Omny. January 28, 2016. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  3. ^ "The Second Transition". thesecondtransition.blogspot.com.
  4. ^ JTA Staff (November 19, 2015). "Descendant of Hasidic Judaism Founder Comes Out as Transgender". JTA published by Haaretz. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  5. ^ Summer Luk (April 27, 2016). "Interview: Abby Stein talks about being a transgender woman from a Hasidic Jewish community". Glaad. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  6. ^ "TRANS MEET-UP with Abby Stein". Eshel Online. December 15, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  7. ^ "'Gender began punching me in the face': How a Hasidic rabbi came out as trans woman", Debra Nussbaum Cohen, Haaretz, February 17, 2017.
  8. ^ "36 Under 36" Abby Stein, The Jewish Week
  9. ^ Temple Shaaray Tefila (June 26, 2020). "WATCH: Rabbi Reines in Conversation with Abby Stein" (Video). shaaraytefilanyc.org. Retrieved June 30, 2020. On being called Rabbi…
  10. ^ Lex Rofeberg (November 19, 2019). "Abby Stein: Judaism Unbound Episode 196 – Becoming Eve". Judaism Unbound (Podcast). Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  11. ^ The Board of Congregation Kolot Chayeinu (May 3, 2024). "5785 Clergy Team Announcement - May 2024/Nisan 5784" (Press release). Brooklyn, NY: www.kolotchayeinu.org. Retrieved May 11, 2024.