Kol Nidre at the Wall (Street Occupation)

On Kol Nidre my oldest son and his wife attended services in their new shul in Virginia. My wife and I kvelled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as our son the cantor chanted the haunting melodies and gave life to the ancient words. But it’s the experience of our youngest son I’d like to discuss with you.

Much has been written about the so-called Wall Street Occupation. Unless you’ve been living under a rock you know that leftist activists in New York have taken over a small public park which they use as a staging ground for speeches and occasional marches on Wall Street. I’m pretty sure I know what the protesters are opposed to—corporate greed, but I’m not sure what they favor instead. Is it a genuine movement or warm weather flight of fancy, a nostalgic return to those thrilling days of 1968 in Chicago? Time will tell.

Here (edited for space) is what my son saw on Kol Nidre:

The service was held at a public plaza across the street from Zuccotti Park, where the occupation itself is centered. We were surrounded by police (and food carts, probably in the worst possible place for business that night). I got there right before it started. I’ve read that 1,000 participated. At 7:00, two rabbis and a cantor (Avi Fox Rosen, Getzel Davis and Sarah Wolf) stood in the center of the plaza and got everyone’s attention in the standard Occupy Wall Street style by shouting “Mick Check” in call and repeat style. They asked everyone to form concentric circles around them. They distributed some machzors and kippot, and created 4 aisles through the crowd. Some people brought folding chairs, but most of us stood and sat on the concrete. All instructions were given in call and repeat, so that everyone could hear. There are no microphones or bullhorns, as the occupation does not have a sound permit.

Most of the service was in Hebrew, a traditional Conservative service with some added phrases to make it more egalitarian. There was some singing and some nigunim (wordless melodies) as well. For most of the service we were sitting in a circle facing the Rabbi, but for the Amidah and for Al Chait (confession of sins) we faced East. We did the traditional Al Chait in Hebrew, and then a more political version in English afterward. It started, “We have sinned by yielding to confusion and falling into passivity.”

The sermon was in the same call and repeat fashion. The Rabbi took traditional Jewish concepts and made them relevant in ways that I was not expecting. For instance he talked about the origins of the holiday—the Jews seeking forgiveness for worshiping the golden calf. That got him talking about contemporary “gold worship”, wealth, capitalism, and the rest. Then he talked about how Yom Kippur can easily be embraced as an opportunity for forgiveness, and is therefore described in some texts as the happiest day of the year. He talked about what it means that humanity was created in God’s image. If we are meant to serve God on earth, then what better way to do it than to serve humanity? It was a smart way of making a humanist argument in a religious context.

The sermon was followed by an “unconventional Alenu.” He said Alenu is our commitment to serve, and do better in the future. So he had people shout out things they commit to do in the new year, and if anyone wanted to take on that commitment, they could shout “Alenu” afterward. The commitments ranged from “I will call my mother more often” and “I will question my own assumptions” to “I will work to end capitalism,” and “I will fight for a living wage for all workers.” People were shy at first, but after a few shout-outs there were too many hands up to call on, so the Rabbi had everyone yell out their own oath together, and we all did, and laughed, and then sang the traditional end of Alenu together.

We said Kaddish, and that was it. People milled around, and many wandered over to join the occupation across the street. The organizers say they are planning to do Friday night services there as long as the occupation continues. All of this—the whole political Yom Kippur concept—could have failed on both religious and political grounds, but I thought they did a really good job on both fronts. I think it was especially successful because it had an immediate and clear relevancy and urgency to it, and the Rabbi and Cantors all did a great job with the difficult circumstances (the constant call and repeat, the lack of chairs, etc.).

It was a very memorable Kol Nidre at the barricades of the revolution!

A very brief video of a nigun moment at the Occupation can be found at http://www.twitvid.com/6HEQ8