Deborah attends services at Temple Aliyah nearly every week, but on a Friday night two years ago, she was nervous. Her daughter, Rebecca, then 18 and known all of her life as Jeremy, had chosen the Kabbalat Shabbat service to come out in public dressed as a woman for the first time. Deborah worried Rebecca’s newfound confidence and courage might be shot down by disapproving stares.
Tall and thin, with a head of brown curls that were still short on that day so early in her transition, Rebecca wore a straight, white skirt and a top with large purple paisleys. She doesn’t like to be showy, so she wore flats and no makeup.
When Deborah and Rebecca walked into the family service at the Woodland Hills Conservative synagogue, along with Rebecca’s younger brother, they were greeted with friendly smiles, with Temple Aliyah’s Rabbi Stewart Vogel in the lead. » | Julie Gruenbaum Fax | Thursday, April 30, 2015
