Responsum: On Gender Transition

Born in Izmir (Greek, Smirna), Asia Minor, to a prominent rabbinic family, Joseph Pallache (Palaggi, Palacci) served as a religious and social leader for the city’s Jewish community. Pallache’s father Ḥayim ben Jacob (Maharḥaf, 1788–1868) was appointed chief rabbi of Izmir in 1854 and wrote more than seventy works. Though Joseph was never able to succeed his father and brothers as chief rabbi, he was considered for the role and remained an influential figure during his life. He wrote Yosef et eḥav (Joseph and His Brothers, 1896), which includes a responsum to the question of which laws apply when an individual transitions genders—specifically, whether a get (religious divorce certificate) is necessary to divorce a woman who becomes a man.