Reuben Zellman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1978 or 1979 (age 46–47)[1] |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion San Francisco State University |
| Occupations | Rabbi Musician |
| Employer(s) | San Francisco State University San Francisco Community Music Center |
Reuben Zellman is an American teacher, author, rabbi, and musician. He became the first openlytransgender person accepted to theReform Jewish seminaryHebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2003.[2][3][4]
Zellman received his B.A. in Linguistics from theUniversity of California, Berkeley. He received his master's degree inHebrew literature from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles.[5][6] He was ordained as a rabbi by the seminary in 2010.[7][8][9] He received a master's in choral conducting fromSan Francisco State University.[5][6]
From 2010 to 2018, Zellman served as the assistant rabbi and music director at Congregation Beth El inBerkeley, California.[9][10][11] He is a lecturer in the music department of San Francisco State University, where he directs the Treble Singers, formerly known as the Women's Chorus.[1][5][6] Zellman also directs the New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus, a chorus for transgender,intersex, andgenderqueer singers, at theCommunity Music Center in San Francisco.[1][6][12][13] He sings as acountertenor in the Choir of Men and Boys atGrace Cathedral, San Francisco.[6] Zellman is on the staff of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, an LGBTQ+ synagogue.[14]
Zellman writes and teaches about transgender issues and Judaism.[5][15] WithElliot Kukla,Joy Ladin, Max Strassfeld, and Jhos Singer, he founded TransTorah.org to help “people of all genders to fully access and transform Jewish tradition, and helps Jewish communities to be welcoming sanctuaries for people of all genders.”[16][17]
He has been involved with transgender activism since 1999, the year hetransitioned.[2][15]
Zellman was born and raised in California, and has lived mostly in theSan Francisco Bay Area since 1996.[6] Zellman is intersex and identifies as neither male nor female.[18] In 1999 he adoptedhe/his pronouns and a masculinegender expression, as he experienced harassment and felt it was "very dangerous" to have anon-binary presentation at that time.[18]