A Kaddish Worn
Burial and mourning rituals aid us in the process of death and dying, of grief and grieving, and in maintaining connection both between the soul of the deceased and their body, and between the dead and those who mourn their loss. In the Jewish faith, body and soul are intertwined; the notion of a soul leaving its body at the moment of death does not exist. Instead, the journey of death and dying is one they enter together. But what happens when the dead are robbed of these rituals? Those who survive robbed of their rites of mourning? Holocaust victims were robbed not only of their lives but of their rights to burial, to legacy, to be mourned and remembered – a loss of both physical dignity and body, and of spiritual immortality.
This body of work explores the role of adornment in the reactivation of memory through the pairing of memorial jewelry and poetry. As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I use these mediums to weave together the struggles of loss, grief, and memory as both personal and communal, creating a wearable Kaddish for those who remain nameless.
This project was made possible in part by the Israel Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in New York, and by Ari Kelman and Adina Davidson in honor of Anna and Sam Kelman.
Photos: Aaron Decker, Sam Butler
