The Soul of a Stranger: A Transgender Journey and Perspective

Prof. Jay Ladin made headlines when, after years of teaching at Yeshiva University, she returned to the Orthodox Jewish campus as a woman—Joy Ladin. In an earlier memoir, Joy Ladin discussed her transition as she changed genders and, over time, created a new self. She recounted her struggle to reconcile the pain she experienced living as the “wrong” gender with the pain of her children in losing the father they love. Ladin’s poignant memoir takes us from the death of living as the man she knew she wasn’t, to the shattering of family and career that accompanied her transition, to the new self, relationships, and love she finds when she opens the door of life. Ladin will talk about her personal journey, as told in her previous memoir, and about her new book, in which she looks at how her experiences have shaped her understanding of God and of basic Jewish texts and traditions.

The first openly transgender professor at Yeshiva University, Joy Ladin was featured in a TED talk and on NPR. Ladin is the author of 11 books, including National Jewish Book Award finalist Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey between Genders, and Lambda Literary and Triangle Award finalist The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective.

Suggested Donation: $6 member / $10 non-member. For registration and information, email [email protected] or call (718) 268-5011 ext. 151.