Rabbi Elliot Kukla

Elliot Kukla is a rabbi at the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center in San Francisco, where since 2008 he has provided spiritual care to those who are dying, ill or bereaved. His articles on spiritual care, illness and healing are published widely in magazines and anthologies, including in The New York Times, The Forward, Shm’a Now and Tikkun. In 2006, he was the first openly transgender rabbi to be ordained by a mainstream movement in Judaism (Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles). In 2007, he co-founded www.transtorah.org to help people of all genders access Jewish tradition. His prayers and ideas on gender diversity in Judaism have received international media coverage, including in Haaretz and The Washington Post, and he is featured in the 2017 National Geographic special “Gender Revolution.” His prayers for new gender and sexual milestones are included in numerous prayer books and rabbi’s manuals, and used in progressive synagogues across North America. He is also chronically ill and disabled. He writes and paints about the intersections among disability, justice and spirituality, and is a visual artist with Sins Invalid: An Unashamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility. In recent years, he has increasingly been focused on offering spiritual care to frontline disabled and sick communities struggling with the impacts of climate chaos. He was named one of the 50 intriguing and influential Jews of 2019 by The Forward.

Essays

small branches and leaves, bright blue sky

The Holiness of Being Broken: Trauma and Disability Justice

January 6, 2020

Most of us will experience some form of trauma or wounding in our lifetime. Trauma and disability are essential parts of what make us human and what connects us to one another.

Rabbi Elliot Kukla

Essays

The Holiness of Being Broken: Trauma and Disability Justice

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