On the first episode of 2025, I'm joined by repeat guest Joy Ladin. Joy is a widely published essayist and poet, literary scholar, and nationally known speaker on transgender issues. From 2003 to 2021, she held the David and Ruth Gotsman Chair in English at Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University.
Her gender transition and return to teaching in 2008 made her the first openly transgender employee of an Orthodox Jewish institution. Joy's experience of being poetically mentored by the Shekinah resulted in the completion of a book length sequence, Shekinah Speaks, published by Selva Obscura in spring 2022, which she joined me to speak about on this podcast in 2023. She's published several other books, including, most recently, a new book of poetry, Family, and Once Out of Nature, selected essays on the transformation of gender. And she is the recipient of the National Jewish Book Award for The Book of Anna.
On this episode, we riff about:
- The concept of family, at both the individual and national levels
- How our personal narratives help us make meaning in our daily lives
- How Joy's understanding of the Shekhinah, the indwelling presence of God typically gendered as female, has shifted since our first conversation in 2023
- The role of gender binaries in helping us relate to divinity
- Joy's perspective on the historical need for a transcendent God, and how both Jesus and the Shekhinah were responses to His limitations
- What the Shekhinah can offer us in this particular moment in time
Notes about this episode:
- You can learn more about Joy and all her work at https://joyladin.com/
- You can watch mine and Joy's first conversation here: https://youtu.be/XYi7LUiNHJ4
- You can also listen to this episode here: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/e1b56ad3-b881-458e-a9e3-e9fb1635760c
And here are a few more details about this show and my work:
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