32 Facts About Abby Stein

Abby Chava Stein is an Israeli-American transgender author, rabbi, activist, blogger, model, and speaker.

Abby Stein is the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community, and is a direct descendant of Hasidic Judaism's founder, the Baal Shem Tov.

Abby Stein did not work as a rabbi immediately after leaving Orthodox Judaism, but by 2019, she had been working as a rabbi again, and as of 2020 works in many capacities as a rabbi.

Abby Stein was born to a family of notable Hasidic leaders, in 1991 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, as the sixth of thirteen children.

Abby Stein grew up speaking Yiddish and Hebrew and was educated at a traditional all-boys Jewish day school.

Abby Stein attended the Viznitz yeshiva in Kiamesha Lake, New York, for her high school and rabbinical education; she received semikha in 2011.

Abby Stein has dual US and Israeli citizenship, with the Israeli citizenship coming through her father who was born in Jerusalem and the family goes back there several generations.

Abby Stein's great-grandfather was Rabbi Yosef Meir Kahana, the Rebbe of Spinka Jerusalem.

In November 2015, Abby Stein made headlines when she came out on her blog as transgender and started physical transition.

Abby Stein was featured in some major media outlets, including The New York Times, the New York Post, New York Magazine, NBC, the Daily Dot, and more.

Abby Stein has appeared on CNN, Fox News, HuffPost Live, and Vice Canada.

Abby Stein appeared on a number of international TV networks, newspapers, and magazines in over 20 different languages.

Abby Stein has received some hate from her former community, but, in an interview with Chasing News, Stein said that she received less hate than some people would have expected.

Abby Stein described her life post-transition as "better than I could have ever imagined".

Abby Stein was featured in the 2016 Showtime Documentary series, Dark Net, in episode 8, "Revolt".

Abby Stein was profiled in, and wrote the foreword for, Peter Bussian's book of portraits, Trans New York: Photos and Stories of Transgender New Yorkers.

Abby Stein's writings have been published in Queer Disbelief: Why LGBTQ Equality is an Atheist Issue, written by Camille Beredjick, edited by Hemant Mehta, and published by Friendly Atheist.

Abby Stein's essay titled "Bring Them In," based on her remarks as part of the 24 hour "Call To Unite," hosted by Tim Shriver and Oprah Winfrey, was published in The Call to Unite.

Abby Stein contributed an essay to Kaye Blegvad's The Pink Book: An Illustrated Celebration of the Color, from Bubblegum to Battleships, discussing her relationship with the color pink, the Hasidic community and the color, and her feelings about stereotypical femininity.

Abby Stein said that Facebook and online support communities have been her lifeline while leaving her community, which made her realize the positive power of online communities.

In December 2015, Abby Stein founded a support group for trans people from Orthodox backgrounds.

Abby Stein has been working with Footsteps, and its Canadian sister organization, Forward, for which she traveled to Montreal in 2016 to help jump-start.

Abby Stein is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Since coming out, Abby Stein has done several modeling projects depicting her life and transition, which have been published by numerous sites.

In December 2021 Abby Stein was photographed by Annie Leibovitz as part of Celebrity Cruises' "industry-elevating" All-Inclusive Photo Project.

Abby Stein has done longer speaking tours to several communities in Montreal, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the New York metropolitan area.

Abby Stein is today a globally recognized author, activist, and speaker.

In early 2019, Abby Stein joined the Women's March leadership, as a member of the 2019 Steering Committee.

In 2020, Abby Stein was a featured speaker at the Women's March NYC, in Foley Square.

Abby Stein currently serves in the capacity of a rabbi on NCJW's "Rabbis for Repro" board, overseeing "a network of Jewish clergy who have pledged to preach, teach, and advocate for abortion justice," which currently has over 1,500 members.

Abby Stein is an active member of the rabbinical group T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, as well as a member of the rabbinical advocacy group "Tirdof: New York Jewish Clergy for Justice" which is a partnership between T'ruah and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.

In 2010, Abby Stein married a woman, Fraidy Horowitz, with whom she had her son, Duvid.