top of page


Ariel Tovlev
Sep 19, 20202 min read
Mussar Musings for a New Year
Shanah tovah umetukah lekulam! A good and sweet new year for everyone. When I was younger, I thought of teshuva in the traditional sense...
7 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
Aug 15, 20205 min read
Trans Love is Miraculous
Anyone who has been in love knows how otherworldly the feeling is: the out-of-body feeling of weightlessness, the in-the-body feeling of...
39 views
1 comment


Ariel Tovlev
Jun 14, 20204 min read
Anti-Trans Legislation
The government's attempt to roll back trans healthcare protections is personal to me. Between 2014-2015, I spent an entire year trying to...
8 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
Feb 13, 20203 min read
Advocating for Safety Over Bravery
I hate the term "brave space." I understand that no space can completely be a safe space, and most spaces in the world are not safe...
15 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
Dec 24, 20194 min read
Living Out Loud
I've been thinking about something lately. I know I talk a lot about being trans. And some people who haven't known me very long might be...
17 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
Nov 4, 20197 min read
The Life Of Sarah; The Deaths of the Martyrs
I knew rabbinical school was going to be difficult. Ancient and Modern Jewish history, Torah chanting, Hebrew grammar, learning all the...
7 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
Jun 30, 20192 min read
Chag Ga'avah Sameach -- Happy Pride!
Ze'evi and I went to pride wearing our pride kippot, and I had on a Jewish queer pride flag. Throughout our day/evening, multiple people...
13 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
May 31, 20193 min read
From One Land to Another
As I pack up my LA apartment to relocate to NYC for the summer, I'm remembering this time last year when I was leaving Israel and the...
2 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
Apr 3, 20195 min read
Gender Neutral English and Hebrew
Language that we use holds meaning and weight. We categorize things based on the words that we use for them. Without each of their...
11 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
Mar 12, 20193 min read
The Only One
Sometimes people ask me how things are going for me, with regard to me being a trans rabbinical student. And I really appreciate the...
6 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
Dec 4, 20174 min read
What's In a Name?
A lot of people didn't know me before my transition, so not everyone knows that the name Ariel was given to me by my parents at birth....
19 views
0 comments


Ariel Tovlev
Aug 17, 20173 min read
Lessons From My Mother: On Hatred and Our Responses To It
I'm having some thoughts on some of the responses to the hatred brewing in the US, namely the two following ideas: no one is born knowing...
9 views
0 comments
bottom of page