NEW YORK (AP) – Halfway through a newly revised manual promoting inclusion for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Judaism’s Reform movement are two short blessings written by a rabbi who was raised Eliza and is now Elliot.

The prayers for Jews undergoing sex changes are included in the 500-page second edition of a guide called Kulanu - Hebrew for “all of us” - published this week by the New York-based Union for Reform Judaism.

“Here you have a Jewish person who is undergoing a very momentous aspect of their personal journey, and they will reach into their tradition to have this affirmed in the way we do it, through a blessing,” said Rabbi Richard Address, an editor of the volume and director of the union’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns. The union represents 900 Reform synagogues in North America.

The inclusion of the transgender blessings is alongside a liturgy for same-sex union ceremonies and a divorce document for same-sex couples.

The largest branch of Judaism in North America, Reform Judaism allows gay and lesbian rabbis and cantors.

But Address said the blessings also illustrate a broader trend: an explosion in self-styled rituals and ceremonies written by people hungry to bring spiritual import to life’s major events.

“They’re saying, ‘If the prayer book doesn’t have one, I’m comfortable writing my own,’” he said.

That describes some of the transgender blessings in Kulanu. Two were written by Rabbi Elliot Kukla, who said he came out as a transgender male around the same time he was ordained last year.