Stein, 34, is a former member of New York\u2019s Ultra Orthodox Jewish community, and grew up in a Hasidic rabbinical family in a Williamsburg enclave. She has described it as an isolated culture\u2014one that shunned modern life, following the laws and practices of 18th Century Eastern Europe, and speaking only Yiddish and Hebrew. She was raised as the eldest boy, the 6th of 13 children and is a direct descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judaism.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Stein earned a rabbinical degree in 2011. One year later, she made her exodus from the Hasidic community in the direction of a feminine identity, leaving almost everything she knew behind and coming out three years later as a woman.\u00a0She is the author of\u00a0Becoming Eve<\/a>: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman. It is a coming-of-age account of struggle, revelation and her journey of \u201cshedding of one identity and growing into another.\u201d<\/p>\n Image via Facebook<\/p>\n Stein is currently Interim Rabbi at Kolot Chayeinu\/Voices of Our Lives, a progressive synagogue in Brooklyn that self-describes as \u201ca dynamic, independent and aspirationally antiracist Jewish congregation.\u201d\u00a0As a committed activist, Stein focuses her advocacy on trans rights and on supporting those leaving Ultra-Orthodoxy.\u00a0\u201cYou are not alone\u201d is the message that sits at the core of her mission.<\/p>\n During Mamdani\u2019s electoral bid, she was involved with\u00a0the grassroots effort, \u201cJews for Mamdani,\u201d with sights set on LGBTQ+ rights and economic justice\u2014a snug fit with the mayor-elect\u2019s affordability agenda. She has also expressed pride for being \u201cthe first pulpit rabbi to have my friend Zohran Kwame Mamdani attend a Shabbat service during [his] campaign\u2026 in February, when he was polling at 4%!\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2.png\")
<\/p>\n