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- Havdalah #28: Rosh Hashanah, Voting Rights, & Week of Action
Havdalah #28: Rosh Hashanah, Voting Rights, & Week of Action
26 Elul, 5784 / September 28, 2024
White Rose RI
September 28, 2024
Happy New Year from the White Rose RI team with our matching friendship bracelets!
Dear Neighbors,
As the year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on what things have stayed the same this year, for better or for worse, and what things have changed, and what things I still hope might change. And how I might change. And what the current year has made possible for the year to come…
If you’re looking for a less wishy-washy, more thought out perspective on the New Year, you’re in luck! James has shared a wonderful piece on Rosh Hashanah in our Sidebar. And among our other events and links, we’re sharing info on a public “Tashlich” ritual with JVP-RI. However you spend the holiday, wishing you a good year.
In solidarity,
Lee
Know Your Rights: Updating IDs & Voting While Trans
When: Sunday, September 29, 1:00pm-3:30pm
Where: Community Collaborative at 339 Eddy Street, Providence, RI 02903
GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, Rhode Island Department of State, Swearer Center, Brown Votes, and Thundermist Health Center present “Know Your Rights: Updating IDs & Voting While Trans."
Did you know Rhode Island passed a new law to make legally changing your name easier, safer, and more affordable? Did you know you can update the gender marker on your state and federal IDs without having to present “proof” of gender transition? Did you know your Rhode Island voter record doesn’t show your gender and you can get a free voter ID that better reflects your current appearance to vote in person?
Trans, nonbinary, gender diverse people and their invited guests are invited to this afternoon workshop to learn about updates to the legal name-change process in RI, how to update your ID documents, and considerations when participating in elections as a gender diverse person.
Doors open at 1:00pm and the workshop begins at 1:30pm.
Participants will be able to: receive individual support for name change and ID updates, register to vote, apply for a free Voter ID if their State ID or Driver’s License doesn’t reflect their current appearance, and learn about other community resources.
This event is FREE!
RI Week of Action: Shut It Down for Palestine
September 29: Art Build
When: 1:00pm-7:00pm
Where: Pneuhaus, 310 Borne Street, Rumford, RI 02916
October 1: Press Conference
When: 11:30am
Where: RI State House, 82 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02903
October 1: Poetry for Liberation
When: 7:00pm-9:00pm
Where: Kimi’s, 373 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903
October 2: Businesses for Palestine
When: 5:00pm-9:00pm
Where: Across the state of Rhode Island — Follow @pslrhodeisland on Instagram and Facebook for details
October 3: Resistance Dance
When: 6:30pm-8:30pm
Where: Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island, 393 Broad Street, Providence, RI 02907
October 5: ALL OUT: Mass March
When: 3:00pm
Where: RI State House Steps, south side (facing Providence Place Mall)
October 5: Mourn the Martyrs Vigil
When: 5:30pm
Where: 1 Finance Way, Providence, RI 02903
Cranberry Thanksgiving
When: Saturday, October 5, 12:00pm-4:00pm
Where: St. James Chapel, 2079 Matunuck School House Road, Charlestown, RI 02813
It’s Harvest Moon, also known as the moon of the falling leaves and the time of the sassamineash tabutamtomooank (cranberry thanksgiving). Join the Tomaquag Museum as they celebrate Cranberry Thanksgiving with storytelling, games, art demos and more!
Mourn the Dead, Fight for the Living
When: Sunday, October 6, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Where: Michael Van Leesten Pedestrian Bridge, Providence, RI 02903
Join JVP-RI for a public “Tashlich” ritual, customary during Rosh Hashanah, to take collective responsibility for our complicity, as Americans whose government funds the bombs used by Israel, in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. There will be invitations to collective action, and JVP-RI will offer opportunities to get involved with their local divestment campaign. All faiths and no faiths welcome.
Continuing Actions for Palestine
Jewish Voice for Peace Weekly Flyering
When: Every Wednesday, 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Where: Providence Train Station, 100 Gaspee Street, Providence, RI 02903
JVP-RI invites all to join them in their efforts to spread the word about their work and simple actions people can take to demand an end to the genocide in Palestine. They meet on the Statehouse side of the train station.
Weekly Kaddish
When: Every Sunday, 1:00pm - 1:30pm
Where: Michael Van Leesten Pedestrian Bridge, Providence, RI 02903
Jewish Voice for Peace RI and allies will be hosting a weekly gathering on Sundays to recite the Mourners Kaddish and communally grieve the Palestinians murdered by the Israeli military. You need not be Jewish to attend; all are welcome to participate.
Power Half-Hours for Gaza
When: every day, Monday through Friday, 3:00pm EST
Where: online
Jewish Voice for Peace is holding Power Half-Hours for Gaza every day — join us as we channel our fury and sorrow into collective action to stop genocide.
Ceasefire Today Toolkit
This toolkit has a variety of links, including call scripts, groups accepting donations, phone banks, petitions, and more
News Coverage
As always, especially when getting news from social media, be aware of who is sharing information and why they’re doing it.
Al Jazeera Coverage of the War on Gaza has continued to be a reliable source
Mondoweiss has also provided excellent context and deep dive pieces.
Climate Reality Project Presentation
When: Thursday, October 3, 6:00pm
Where: North Scituate Public Library, 606 W Greenville Road, Scituate, RI 02857
Kim Calcagno, Refuge Manager at the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and Climate Leader Facilitator at the Al Gore Climate Reality Leadership Corp, returns to the library to speak about current environmental issues and their implications for our future.
Registration is required
COMMUNITY TALK: History of Migration: In the United States
When: Tuesday, October 15, 4:30pm-6:30pm
Where: AMOR Office A-101, 545 Pawtucket Ave, Pawtucket, RI 02860
Join AMOR to talk about an important topic in Spanish. They will talk about the history of migration, the origins, the consequences, and the fight that continues today.
Contact AMOR with questions at [email protected]
Event will be in Spanish
Facebook page for History of Migration / Historia de la Migración
Help Chelsey Make Rent for September!
Chelsey is a bartender who has been living in financial precarity for a while, and a series of injuries has put her in dire straits, most notably with making rent for this month. Please consider donating if you are able!
When I first sat down to write about Rosh Hashanah, I wrestled with the feeling that I had nothing to say.
Anyone who knows me will attest to how absurd that statement sounds. But it’s true, I was frustrated because I didn’t feel a hook or pull to anything in particular. This isn’t to say that there’s nothing wrong — I’d be the first to enumerate the ways the world is careening off an abyssal precipice. But with regards to the New Year, I struggled to find something that felt important, crucial, to express.
The truth is, I am going into the new year feeling optimistic. I feel good.
And that felt wrong.
Not morally wrong, to be clear. Just incorrect. An inaccurate reflection of reality. A barometer needs calibrating, perhaps. Or maybe my life as an individual over the past two years has improved so astronomically that my instruments aren’t giving useful readings. Am I unmotivated to speak plainly the lengths to which our institutions are not merely failing us, but are subjugating us as intended? Am I flinching at writing about atrocity and complicity? Or do I just not know what to type?
None of these made sense for who I am. Yet the feeling of I have nothing to say persisted, because “I feel good about the new year” isn’t really anything to report, is it?
That’s where I went wrong: why should good news be no news?
I can’t just write about feeling happy. I can’t just write about hope without any basis.
Why not?
I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking that only grim topics are the ones worth writing about, that the only real substance is that which feels heavy. But what else carries us through hard times if not the hope of good ones?
Happiness disrespects grief. To celebrate is to profane mourning.
No, to celebrate is to sanctify mourning. Judaism defines “sacred” as distinct. We cannot distinguish One without the Other.
Jewish law prioritizes the needs of the living over those of the dead. If a wedding and a funeral procession meet at a crossroads, the wedding party has the right of way. Even the obligations of Shiva lift for Shabbat.
Happiness is not disrespectful to suffering. It is not frivolous, nor is it the exclusive experience of the privileged. It is not useless, it is not nothing. It is as much an end in itself as it is a means to spite the dark and to shame outrageous fortune. It is precious. It is holy.
And it is worthy of being written about.
It has been one year since Katherine, Lee, and I launched Havdalah.
I have even more new friends than last year, which brought me even more friends than the year prior.
I have a partner whose arms feel like home and whose eyes are calming like thunderstorms.
So many people I know and love are expecting. I will get to welcome the children of dear friends to this terrible, imperfect, wonderful world. I will have to make a world that deserves them.
I have continued to grow as a person, becoming braver and stronger and wiser than the year previous, taking risks I’d insisted I’d never take and letting go of old fears I’d thought were reality. I’ve begun believing in my own courage and intelligence and resilience.
I’ve done a lot of hard work and reaped its rewards.
I celebrate the last year that has given me so much, that has challenged me deeply, that has seen me change. I bless the loved ones I have met, the loved ones I have known better, the loved ones I have lost. I reread this chapter in the Book of Life and am humbled. I will treasure this past year, as I treasured the year before, as I believe I will treasure the next.
And so, I will write about Rosh Hashanah:
I think 5785 is going to be a good, sweet year.
L’shana tovah.
Needle Drop: “Don’t Carry It All”, The Decemberists
News Round-Up: Local
Westerly School Committee begins process of rewriting transgender student policy (Steve Ahlquist, September 18, 2024)
Common Cause RI warns elections officials of Voting Rights Act violations in Primary Election (Steve Ahlquist, September 19, 2024)
Central Falls mothers won’t tolerate hate (Steve Ahlquist, September 25, 2024)
Residents defend sound and proven trans and gender-diverse student policies in North Providence (Steve Ahlquist, September 27, 2024)
News Round-Up: Inter/National
‘Terrorgram’ Charges Show US Has Had Tools to Crack Down on Far-Right Terrorism All Along (Ali Winston for Wired, September 13, 2024)
11th Circuit Rules In Favor Of Forced Trans Sterilization For Correct Drivers Licenses In Alabama (Erin Reed in Erin in the Morning, September 23, 2024)
Breaking Down Sudan’s Struggle: What the World Is Missing (Kelly Hayes for Truthout, September 26, 2024)
Pod Recs: It Could Happen Here and Weird Little Guys
The Heritage Foundation’s Anti-Trans Booklets (It Could Happen Here, September 18, 2024)
White Terror (Weird Little Guys, September 19, 2024)
Gig Economy Terror: What Israel’s Pager Bomb Attack Means for You (It Could Happen Here, September 26, 2024)
Wild Faith: A Conversation with Talia Lavin (It Could Happen Here, September 27, 2024)
