Elliot Kukla is a rabbi, author, and activist. In 2006 he was the first openly transgender rabbi to be ordained by a denomination in Judaism. He has worked at the intersection of justice and spiritual care to those who are dying and bereaved since 2007. Elliot’s writing appears in the New York Times, Time, Teen Vogue as well as many other venues. His children's book THE LAZY DAY is forthcoming from Abram's in Fall 2026 and hi first full-length solo non-fiction book THE HEART LIVES BY BREAKING is forthcoming in Fall 2027 from Shocken (Knopf Doubleday).