Blogging the NHC Summer Institute '08: Thoughts

Here are some informal notes that I took and reactions that I had that don't fit into the "just the facts, ma'am" approach of my previous NHC Institute posts.

• Re multiple genders, someone (one of the teachers?) suggested that Jews who get "nose jobs" (plastic surgery) are similar to people changing sex in that, in both cases, the individuals are changing their appearance to "pass" for what they want to be identified as.
  
  It hadn't really occurred to me that, if a doctor removes part of the anatomy of a baby identified as female whose genitalia are large enough that she appears to have a penis, this is the functional equivalent of a clitoridectomy, robbing that individual of the ability to experience sexual pleasure. That's a very high price to pay for "passing."
• One older straight woman, said that, now that she's widowed, she feels more comfortable in a gay synagogue than in a straight one. That's a sad commentary on what I perceive as Judaism's lack of a role for singles.
• Gender as an obsession: On the one hand, men and women are separated by a physical barrier (mechitzah) in an Orthodox synagogue, as if gender were the only major difference among individuals, complained a classmate; on the other hand, complained another, distributing honors exactly down the middle in an egalitarian minyan, alternating female, male, female, male, is equally obsessive, gender-wise. [Update in response to Elf's DH's comment: The person who told this story was talking about one specific egalitarian minyan--most are not so obsessive about this.]
• I was very sorry that a young Orthodox woman who was in the Feminism class the first day did not return for later sessions. I think we need to hear the voices of those struggling with gender issues while working within a halachic framework. [Update # 2: Apparently, she did return, but must have been wearing not-so-Orthodox-style clothing, because I didn't spot her the second day--and, to boot, she told me that she doesn't identity as Orthodox! I'll be writing more about "Orthodox-style clothing" in a future post. Update # 3: Here's that post.]
  
  In case I don't have an opportunity to blog again from the Institute, I wish all of you a Shabbat Shalom. And do read the Institute posts on Jewschool.
  
  By the way, we finally got around to doing Kiddush Levanah last night. It's very nice indeed to make a brachah/blessing thanking HaShem for the moon while standing on a campus in the middle of the countryside.