Yizkor in the Streets

For the second year in a row, Rabbis for Ceasefire held a Yizkor service on the streets of Brooklyn, using the traditional Yom Kippur memorial service as a means to mourn the dead in Gaza, to atone for American and Jewish communal participation in the genocide, and to refuse further complicity. After the Yizkor service—attended by 1,500 people and watched online by ten times that number—rabbis and others blocked the Brooklyn Bridge while performing the Ne’ilah service that closes the holy day; dozens were arrested. In this episode, Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with Rabbis for Ceasefire organizers Alissa Wise and Elliot Kukla about their experience planning and carrying out this ritual action, and what it revealed about the nature of the tradition itself. They also discuss the power of collective grief, and the difference and interrelation between Palestine solidarity work and the work of building a Judaism beyond Zionism. 

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Arthur Waskow. 

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Articles Mentioned and Further Reading

Rabbis for Ceasefire Yizkor service on Instagram

“Jewish activist and leader Rabbi Arthur Waskow dies at 92,” Deena Prichep, NPR

“‘Chronic traumatic stress disorder’: the Palestinian psychiatrist challenging western definitions of trauma,” Bethan McKernan, The Guardian

“Can the Palestinian Mourn?,” Abdeljawad Omar, Rusted Radishes

“‘They Destroyed What Was Inside Us’: Children with Disabilities Amid Israel’s Attacks on Gaza,” Human Rights Watch Report

“The Right to Grieve,” Erik Baker, Jewish Currents

“Synagogue Struggles,” On the Nose

“We Need New Jewish institutions,” Arielle Angel, Jewish Currents

Transcript forthcoming.