Responsibility and Repentance in the Face of Genocide: A Jewish Currents Text Study
Throughout the Yom Kippur liturgy, participants recite together the vidui, or confession. The lines are spoken in the first-person plural, enumerating a list of collective wrongs: “We have abused, we have betrayed, we have been cruel, we have destroyed.” They go on: “We have killed. We have lied . . . we have robbed and stolen . . . we have been both violent and weak.” The collective ownership of communal crimes is always challenging and powerful; over the last two years these words are especially devastating.
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed at least 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza (though the true death toll is likely much higher) and displaced millions in a campaign of destruction that nearly every leading human rights organization in the world has declared a genocide. Many of us have protested to stop this war, but those of us who are American citizens have also paid for the bombs that have been dropped on Gaza. In the face of such horror, what might it mean to take collective responsibility? And is repentance even possible for crimes that cannot be repaired? What does atonement mean when the crime is genocide?
This High Holiday season, join Jewish Currents to explore these painful questions. At workshops in Washington, DC; Brooklyn; Philadelphia; Chicago; Boston; and virtually, educators will bring ancient and modern Jewish texts to bear on this difficult season of reflection and recommitment.
All in-person workshops will include a light meal and are free for Jewish Currents members (join today!). For non-members, tickets are a suggested donation of $18. Space for each event is limited, so we encourage you to register today. (Priority registration for the virtual workshop will be given to those who do not reside in a city with a live event, or cannot attend in-person for accessibility reasons.)
Sign up for the workshop in your city:
Washington, DC: Thursday, September 25th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM with Rabbi Avigayil Halpern. (Location confirmed upon RSVP.)
New York City: Sunday, September 28th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at BISR, with Professor Joshua Dubler.
Philadelphia: Monday, September 29th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at MAAS, with Laynie Soloman.
Chicago: Monday, September 29th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at 57th Street Meeting of Friends, with Professor Raphael Magarik.
Virtual: Tuesday, September 30th from 8:00 to 9:30 PM ET on Zoom, with Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein.
Boston: Sunday, October 5th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Boston Workers Circle, with Rabbi Aron Wander.
WASHINGTON, DC: Thursday, September 25th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. SIGN UP HERE. (Wheelchair-accessible location confirmed upon RSVP.)
Rabbi Avigayil Halpern is a writer and educator focusing on queer and feminist Torah, and is currently at work on a book about queer niddah (Jewish menstrual practice) and Jewish sexual ethics and law.
NEW YORK CITY: Sunday, September 28th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. SIGN UP HERE.
The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research is an interdisciplinary teaching and research institute that offers critical, community-based education in the humanities and social sciences. It is located at 68 Jay Street, suite #425, in downtown Brooklyn. The building is wheelchair-accessible. For more information or accommodation requests, email events@jewishcurrents.org.
Joshua Dubler teaches at the University of Rochester, where he directs the Rochester Education Justice Initiative. He is writing a book on guilt.
PHILADELPHIA: Monday, September 29th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. SIGN UP HERE.
MAAS Building is a home for the arts in Philadelphia, hosting musical shows, dance performances, theater showcases, and mixed-use artist residencies. It is located at 1325 N. Randolph St. This space is up one flight of stairs, and is not wheelchair-accessible. For more information or accommodation requests, email events@jewishcurrents.org.
Laynie Soloman serves on the faculty of SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva, where they co-founded the Trans Halakha Project, an initiative that seeks to create new forms of Jewish legal expression shaped by trans and non-binary Jews.
CHICAGO: Monday, September 29th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. SIGN UP HERE.
57th Street Meeting of Friends is a Quaker meeting house, located at 5615 S. Woodlawn Ave in Hyde Park. The building is not wheelchair accessible. The front door has about 5 steps with handrails; the side door fewer, but no hand railing. For more information or accommodation requests, email events@jewishcurrents.org.
Raphael Magarik is an assistant professor of English at the University of Illinois–Chicago; his book, Fictions of God, is coming out in November 2025.
VIRTUAL: Tuesday, September 30th from 8:00 – 9:30 PM Eastern Time. SIGN UP HERE.
Zoom information to follow registration. The livestream will have automated closed captioning. Priority registration will be given to those who do not reside in a city with a live event, or cannot attend in-person for accessibility reasons. For more information or accommodation requests, email events@jewishcurrents.org.
Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein directs the Chicago Avodah Justice Fellowship and is a senior editor of Jewschool.com, a member of the Tzedek Lab, and the author of “The Torah Case for Reparations.” Aryeh was ordained by Yashrut Institute.
BOSTON: Sunday, October 5th from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. SIGN UP HERE.
Cosponsored and hosted by the Boston Workers Circle: an arts and education center celebrating Yiddish, Jewish, and progressive culture. Located at 6 Webster Street in Brookline, MA. The space is wheelchair-accessible with gender-neutral bathrooms. For more information or accommodation requests, email events@jewishcurrents.org.
Rabbi Aron Wander is an organizer and writer. His writing can be found at his blog, Hitnodedut.
