Laynie Soloman

pronouns: they/them | email

Laynie is a teacher and Torah-lover who works to uplift the piously irreverent, queer, and subversive spirit of rabbinic text and theology. Laynie currently serves on the faculty of SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva, where they co-founded the Trans Halakha Project. They believe that grounding in, learning, and expressing ourselves through Torah is a liberatory spiritual practice and source of cultural resistance that can help us live with greater integrity, rootedness, and joy.

Laynie has studied and taught Torah for over a decade in a wide range of communal spaces, including Yeshivat Hadar, UnYeshiva, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. They earned their M.A. in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and in 2020 they received the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize for emerging Jewish educators. They recently served as a research fellow with M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education where they explored pedagogical approaches to studying Talmud as a tool for cultivating Jewish peoplehood beyond nationalism. They are a regular contributor to Jewish Currents’ Shabbat Reading List Parsha Commentary, alongside other projects they support that aim to develop emerging Torah of and for the Jewish Left. 

Laynie currently lives on Lenni-Lenape land in Philadelphia with their partner, Zahara, their kid, Remez, and many books & plants. When they’re not learning Talmud, you can find Laynie reading about liberation theology, laying in their hammock, or singing nigunim.