Reuben Zellman

Reuben Zellman is an American teacher, author, and is the assistant rabbi and music director at Congregation Beth El in Berkeley, California. He became the first openly transgender person accepted to the Reform Jewish seminary Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 2003. He was ordained by the seminary's Los Angeles campus in 2010.

He writes and teaches about transgender issues and Judaism. Zellman has been involved with transgender activism since 1999, the year he transitioned. He received his B.A. in Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley. He received his master’s degree in Hebrew literature from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles.

Zellman was born and raised in Los Angeles, and lives with his wife Erika Katske in San Francisco.