Rabbi Elliot Kukla

First Openly Transgender Rabbi & Disability Activist; Spiritual Care & Grief Support Practitioner

Travels From Travels From:
Oakland, CA, USA
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Rabbi Elliot Kukla Biography

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 10/18/2024.

Rabbi Elliot Kukla Speaking Topics

  • Sanctifying Queer, Trans, and Nonbinary Lifecycles

    This current moment of anti-trans backlash is often framed as a clash between traditional religious values and new-fangled ideas about gender. However, gender creativity exists all over the world and through-out history within traditional religious texts and spiritual practices. In this session, I tell my own story as the first openly transgender rabbi ordained by a movement in Judaism. I have written prayers for sanctifying gender non-conforming lives that are used by all non-orthodox branches of Judaism. We will explore how to sanctify lifecycle moments that are unique to queer, trans and nonbinary people such as coming out, transitioning or moving to a less anti-queer city, as well as rituals for our everyday lives. This session leaves audiences with the spiritual tools to bring holiness to our lives and dispel stigma and shame.

  • TransTextual

    Meet the genders beyond male and female in ancient Jewish holy books.

    The current moment of anti-trans backlash is often framed as a clash between traditional religious values and newfangled ideas about gender. However, gender radicals exist within millennia-old sacred texts of Judaism. In this session, Rabbi Elliot tells his own story about how discovering the six genders beyond male and female in the Talmud inspired him to become the first openly transgender rabbi.

    We will also learn about how Adam (the first human being) and Abraham and Sarah (the first monotheists) were gender radicals, according to the ancient rabbis. No knowledge of Hebrew, religious background, or particular beliefs are required or expected to participate in this class.

  • The Spirituality of Access

    When we turn to the topic of disability access for our organizations or communities we tend to get stuck in the details. We worry about things like wheelchair ramps and ADA toilets. All these things are important but they are leaves on the tree on the access: relationship is the roots. You can take care of all those details and still not meet the needs of the people who actually want to access your community.

    In this session, we will explore the thinking of contemporary disability justice activists like Mia Mingus, Alice Wong, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. You'll gain tools for thinking about how access intersects with your community's existing practices and values. This session helps audiences understand that access is not a checklist. Access is about connection. Access is love.

  • Ritual Labs

    Rabbi Elliot offers hands-on labs on how to create new rituals to meet the needs of your community, including blessings and ceremonies to honor aging, deepening disability, gender transitions, the loss of homes, hopes, ways of life, and more.

  • Laziness as a Spiritual Practice

    Workplace burn-out is at an all-time high. 42% of workers in 2023 reported burn-out, which marks a new record. We are exhausted and need to do less. And yet so many of us feel guilty whenever we try to rest. Why is this?

    In this session, we explore rest as a liberatory spiritual practice that can help us heal as individuals, strengthen loving relationships, and create a more sustainable future.

    We will begin by discussing the racist and exploitative origins of the stigma surrounding the term "lazy". Next we will explore sources on rest from a variety of ancient and modern spiritual sources including the Torah on the sabbath, the Nap Bishop, and Chinese practitioners Tang Ping. Finally, we will begin to uncover how to integrate rest into our own lives and through concrete spiritual practices that can be used individually and within your organization. This session is based on my New York Times essay "The Most Valuable Thing I Can Teach My Kid is How to Be Lazy".

  • The Book of Ruth as a Model of Radical Solidarity

    Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz famously wrote that “solidarity is the political form of love.” What does it mean for Jewish people to act in solidarity with Palestianians today? In this session, we will explore how solidarity has deep roots in the Bible, and how it can heal individual and collective wounds.

Rabbi Elliot Kukla Videos

  • Trans Religious Leaders Share What Faith Means to Them
    Do we just say there's one way to grow up, or do we say there's lots of different ways to be a person?' — Trans religious leaders stand in the gap,...

Speaker Lists Featuring Rabbi Elliot Kukla

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  • What topics does Rabbi Elliot Kukla speak about?

    Rabbi Elliot Kukla is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Aging, Disability, Diversity & Inclusion, Faith & Religion, Family & Parenting, Health, Inspirational, Jewish Heritage, LGBTQ, Mental Health, Motivational, Political.
  • Where does Rabbi Elliot Kukla travel from?

    Rabbi Elliot Kukla generally travels from Oakland, CA, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
  • Who is Rabbi Elliot Kukla’s agent?

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Rabbi Elliot Kukla is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Sanctifying Queer, Trans, and Nonbinary Lifecycles, TransTextual, The Spirituality of Access , Ritual Labs, Laziness as a Spiritual Practice and The Book of Ruth as a Model of Radical Solidarity. The estimated speaking fee range to book Rabbi Elliot Kukla for your event is $5,000 - $10,000. Rabbi Elliot Kukla generally travels from Oakland, CA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Kylar Broadus, Francesco Clark, Alex Iantaffi, Lydia X. Z. Brown and Chella Man. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Rabbi Elliot Kukla for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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