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women. There are certain inferior males who wanted this
done so as to be part of the royal court and for monetary
gain. We though, [are] the holy nation [and] in our view,
anyone who undergoes castration by human act is hence-
forth disqualified from marrying a Jewish daughter.” This
sin is extremely serious and even non-Jews are commanded
not to do it.

Violating this prohibition is only permitted when a per-
son’s life is in danger and the only way he can be saved is
by harming his reproductive organs. In the same way there
are some who permit castrating an animal whose life is in
danger (Pis’chei Teshuvah, Even Ha’ezer ibid.).
2. The Torah says,“And a man shall not wear women’s cloth-
ing, for all who do so are abominated by Hashem…” (De-
varim 22:5). The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 182:5) rules:
“A woman must not adorn herself with men’s adornments,
e.g. by putting a miter or a [man’s] hat on her head or wear-
ing chain mail and the like… and a man must not adorn
himself in women‘s adornments, such as wearing colored
garments and golden jewelry, in a place where these items
are not worn by men and where such jewelry is only worn
by women.”

Although these young men undergo surgery to remove
their male organs and with subsequent hormonal treat-
ment they assume the bodily appearance of women, they
remain men [albeit castrates] in every respect. They can be
counted toward a minyan for prayer, are obligated to wear
tefillin and tzitzis, and to do all the mitzvos like any other
man. Their long hair and nails will not change them into
women. The hormonal treatment that gives them a female
appearance is therefore a violation of the sin of “A man
shall not wear women’s clothing.” And all the more so when
after their surgery they don women’s clothing, is their sin
even greater because they will be in constant violation of
this prohibition. The Rema (Yoreh De’ah, ibid. writes that

416 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein