Back Tumtum Catalan Tumtum (judaísmo) Spanish Tumtum (judaïsme) French טומטום HE Tumtum Portuguese Тумтум (иудаизм) Russian Tumtum (Yahudilik) Turkish טומטום YI

Tumtum (Judaism)

Abraham and Sarah visited by Three Angels, painted between 1581 and 1642 CE. According to the Talmud, both Abraham and Sarah were born tumtum.[1]

Tumtum (Hebrew: טומטום, "hidden") is a term that appears in Jewish Rabbinic literature. It usually refers to a person whose sex is unknown because their genitalia are hidden, undeveloped, or difficult to determine.[2][3][4]

Although they are often grouped together, the tumtum has some halakhic ramifications distinct from those of the androgynos (אנדרוגינוס), who have both male and female genitalia.[5]

Although tumtum does not appear in the Scripture, it does in other literature.[3] Reform rabbi Elliot Kukla writes, "The tumtum appears 17 times in the Mishna; 23 times in the Tosefta; 119 times in the Babylonian Talmud; 22 times in the Jerusalem Talmud; and hundreds of times in midrash, commentaries, and halacha."[6]

In the Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 64a–b, Rabbi Ammi says that the Biblical figures "Abraham and Sarah were originally tumtumim" and infertile and then miraculously turned into a fertile husband and wife in their old age. Rabbi Ammi points to the Book of Isaiah 51:1–2, saying that the references to "Look to the rock from where you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from where you were dug [...] Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you" explains their genitals being uncovered and remade.[1]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference talmudology was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Fonrobert, Charlotte Elisheva. "Gender Identity In Halakhic Discourse". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Steinberg, Avraham (2003). "Ambiguous genitalia (tumtum)". Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics. Translated by Rosner, Fred. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers. pp. 50–54. ISBN 9781583305928. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  4. ^ Scheinerman, Rachel (8 February 2022). "The Eight Genders in the Talmud". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Chagigah 4a:7". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  6. ^ Rabbi Elliot Kukla. "A Created Being of Its Own: Toward a Jewish Liberation Theology for Men, Women and Everyone Else". 2006. TransTorah.

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