Joseph and Dinah: A Trans Tale

What if Dinah and Joseph were always telling a queer story the Torah never quite finished? Rabbi Josh Fixler revisits Dinah’s disappearance and Joseph’s “coat of many colors” as a princess dress, drawing on classical midrash and modern scholarship to uncover a trans-affirming reading of these siblings. ​

We explore:

✅ Dinah’s trauma, erasure, and the reality that so many victims lose their voice in the record of history.

​✅ Joseph’s gender nonconforming presentation in Bereshit Rabbah and the tradition that links their garment to Tamar’s royal dress. ​

✅ Ancient midrashim that imagine Dinah and Joseph’s genders being swapped in the womb, and what that might mean for trans and nonbinary Jews today. ​

✅ The violence and homelessness transgender people face in our own time, and how Jewish text can move us toward protection, dignity, and joy for all God’s children.

This is a Torah of complexity, compassion, and courage — an invitation to see the divine spark shining brightest when each person can live as their truest self.