Joy Ladin

Joy Ladin, David and Ruth Gottesman Professor of English at Stern College of Yeshiva University, has published numerous poems and essays, and five books of poetry: Coming to Life (named “one of the five most important Jewish poetry books of 2010” by The Forward), Psalms, Transmigration (2009 Lambda Literary Award finalist), The Book of Anna and Alternatives to History. Her most recent book is the memoir, “Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey Between Genders.” Her 2007 return to teaching at Yeshiva University as a woman after years of teaching as a man made Yeshiva the first Orthodox Jewish institution to employ an openly transgender employee—and sparked discussion around the Jewish world. Her work has been supported by a Fulbright Scholarship and a research fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies.

David Dunn Bauer

Rabbi David Dunn Bauer is the Director of West Coast Programming for Nehirim and brings to his work over 20 years of professional theater experience, nine years in the congregational rabbinate, and 20 years of yoga practice, as well as academic study on sexuality and spirituality. David earned his B.A. in Theatre Studies and English Literature at Yale University, studied Talmud at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and received his rabbinical ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In 2011, he became the first Jew to earn the Certificate in Sexuality and Religion from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, writing on “Blessings for the Erotic Body” and Jewish Queer Sexual Ethics. David interned at CBST in New York and from 2003 to 2010 served as the rabbi of the Jewish Community of Amherst, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Based now in San Francisco, he has a private practice in Queer Spiritual Counseling.

Noach Dzmura

Noach Dzmura is the editor of the 2011 Lambda Literary Award winning anthology, Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, North Atlantic Books, 2010. He serves as adjunct faculty at Starr King School for the Ministry of the Graduate Theological Union, and as Executive Assistant to the Provost and Director of Educational Technology at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, CA. He also directs Jewish Transitions, a consultancy that develops inclusive chevra kadisha and conversion practices, and provides guidance to transgender people regarding the conversion process and traditional burial.

Rabbi Reuben Zellman

Rabbi Reuben Zellman is a graduate of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and has been a transgender activist since 1999. He has written many articles and educational materials about gender, sexuality, and Judaism, and has taught at congregations, conferences and universities around the U.S. Reuben currently serves as the assistant rabbi and music director at Congregation Beth El in Berkeley, CA.

Ariel Vegosen

Ariel Vegosen is proud to be a Jewish queer gender-outlaw. Ariel is a professional dialogue facilitator, Jewish educator, ropes course instructor, community organizer, media consultant, event coordinator, writer, performer, activist, and world traveler. Ariel has facilitated programs for Nehirim, Shomer Shalom, Teva Learning Alliance, Jewish Funds for Justice, Wilderness Torah, and American Jewish World Service. Ariel serves on the board of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Community of Living Traditions and is the founder of the Gender Blender Collective, a group designed to address how gender impacts and affects our lives.

Elliot Kukla

Rabbi Elliot Rose Kukla has been an activist, writer and educator for more than a decade. He has taught widely about sexual and gender diversity in Judaism in the US, Canada and Israel. His writing appears in and is upcoming from numerous magazines including Lilith, Shm’a: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility and Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Art and Culture, as well as in anthologies published by New York University Press, Jewish Lights and the Union for Reform Judaism Press. For the last 2 years, Elliot served as the rabbi of the Danforth Jewish Circle, in Toronto, Canada, a congregation grounded in social justice and inclusion. Elliot was the Rabbinic Organizer of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) in LA.

Kadin Henningsen

Kadin Henningsen is an artist and activist in Los Angeles, California. He was the first transgender person to be elected to the Board of Directors at Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), the world’s first LGBT Synagogue and has served as Chair of BCC’s Adult Education Committee. Kadin currently facilitates a monthly Trans Text Study, and is a recipient of a 2012-2013 Kevah Teaching Fellowship. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and his current work explores Jewish concepts surrounding identity and ritual.

Dev Noily

Rabbi Dev Noily works in queer Jewish community by serving on the board of the Bay Area Coalition of Welcoming Congregations and developing religious school curricula that integrate queer liberation into the transmission of Jewish texts and traditions. Dev serves as School Director and Spiritual Leader at Kehilla Community Synagogue in Piedmont, CA.

Ben Lunine

Ben Lunine is a second year student at the Pacific School of Religion. Ben is a former transgender rights attorney. He currently serves on the board of the Bay Area Coalition of Welcoming Congregations. Ben works as a Chaplain Intern at Kaiser Hayward Medical Center. Ben is active member of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav where he serves as a Bat Mitzvah mentor.