US Jews mourn the anniversary of the fall of Roe with a yahrzeit American Jews lit a candle made to burn for 24 hours to remember the souls of people who have died in forced births.

RNS) — U.S. Jews gathered in online forums across the country before sundown on Friday (June 23) to light a candle marking the one-year anniversary of the end of Roe v. Wade, and mourning those who have died because abortions were not available to them.

The Zoom meetings were called a yahrzeit, an ancient Jewish tradition marking the anniversary of a death of a loved one. A yahrzeit typically consists of lighting a special 24-hour candle and saying the Kaddish prayer.

The candles lit Friday are expected to burn into Saturday, June 24, the day last year that the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling.

About 250 people participated in the Yahrzeit of Roe Virtual Candle Lighting, sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women. The 25-minute Zoom conference call was restrained. A candle was lit, a litany read, a prayer recited and a song was sung.

Most Jews, and especially liberal Jews, believe their faith permits and even requires an abortion when the life of the pregnant person is at stake.

“We knew that this was a time that we needed to mark Jewishly,” said Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, scholar in residence at the National Council of Jewish Women. “And we knew it was a time that demanded ritual because this is a big moment, and it felt that this was the correct moment for honoring and mourning everyone whose lives have been taken because of these horrific government policies.” A yahrzeit memorial candle. Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James E. Foehl/U.S. Navy/Creative Commons

A yahrzeit memorial candle. Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James E. Foehl/U.S. Navy/Creative Commons

Some 20 states have enacted laws banning or restricting abortion in the wake of Roe’s fall. At least 61 clinics, Planned Parenthood facilities and doctors’ offices stopped offering abortions in the last year, according to The New York Times.

In 2020, the National Council of Jewish Women created “Rabbis for Repro,” a coalition of some 2,500 U.S. rabbis and cantors committed to fighting for reproductive health rights, especially abortion. It has spawned other grassroots coalitions including a new “Jews for Repro NY” campaign. This week it celebrated passage of legislation in New York state that provides legal protection for New York doctors to prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in states that have outlawed abortion.

Asked what they needed to deepen their commitment to the fight for abortion rights, participants typed into the chat function: “patience,” “stamina,” “community,” “allies,” and “righteous anger.”

Nearly two-thirds of Americans support legal abortion, including majorities of religious Americans, according to a recent PRRI poll. Among the religious groups most supportive of abortion rights are Unitarian Universalists, religiously unaffiliated Americans and Jews.

Several religious groups have filed nearly a dozen challenges to abortion restrictions now making their way through state and federal courts, insisting abortion bans violate their religious freedom. They hope they can persuade courts to grant religious exemptions to abortion bans, if not strike them down altogether.

The online conferences made a point of mourning for people who died giving birth, either because they couldn’t terminate their medically risky pregnancies promptly or couldn’t travel out of state to get the care they needed.

“Forced birth takes lives, and it takes lives disproportionately of Black women, Indigenous women, those who are struggling to get by,” said Ruttenberg. “We’re never going to know everyone’s name, we’re never going to know everybody’s identity. But we need to honor them.” The yahrzeit candle, she said, was one way their memory can “illuminate our lives today.”

--- "US Jews mourn the anniversary of the fall of Roe with a yahrzeit American Jews lit a candle made to burn for 24 hours to remember the souls of people who have died in forced births."

The yahrzeit -- year's time is the direct translation -- is an anniversary of a death day OF AN INDIVIDUAL. The candle is an outward expression of it. The death OF AN INDIVIDUAL.

This Zoom crop of "Jews" does not reflect all Jews, anymore than Biden reflects all Americans. The stunt -- memorialize a Supreme Court decision -- is an utter misuse of the whole tradition. And contemptible.

But as we see across Christian denominations as well as Jewish, the schisms are ever more easily being seem. The "liberals" will turn their traditions to the service of liberal politics, while the Jewish Orthodox and Christian Orthodox and other traditionalists will not. Plain and simple, Leftist politics has infected pulpits and the media is amplifying politics by subverting religions -- plural.

Reading through the comments at that web page would be most instructive.

--- "The wide spectrum of Jewish beliefs, or for that matter nonbelief, does not disqualify any of their adherents from being Jewish."

Because there is no official and religion-wide authority within Judaism, it seems hard to grasp as an entity. The notion that " Jews exist as an ethnicity as well as a religion" is falling away, because one deals with words which -- like today's flummoxing "what is a woman?" -- have little clear definition. It is a little like the theme of Pirandello's play, "Right You Are (if you think so)."

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_You_Are_(if_you_think_so)

I had the occasion decades ago to discuss with two somewhat important Catholic theologians, and posed a question: "if after almost two thousand years, the second coming has not occurred and another two thousand years goes by without the second coming, what will the future hold for Christianity?"

They both thought, and answered with opposing views. One said ,"given more than 40 thousand distinct Christian churches (and schisms), another two millennia would bring twice as many." The other said, "the Church would have enough time to bring all back into the one true church."

In another anecdote, I managed to ask a Reform and Orthodox rabbi (as well as a couple of Protestant ministers) about Traumatic Brain Injury, or massive aphasia, when the loss of language as a mental model was complete. Howard Gardner in "Multiple Intelligences Theory" and Oliver Sacks are among those observing that mental modules sometimes are "separable" such that the injured brain may continue to function while a single function "dies."

The question: Can one have a relationship with God after severe aphasia. The Reform rabbi said "no, because all religion is conducted in language." Period. The Orthodox said, "no, because haShem -- the name -- is required, but then added he rejected his own answer for the sake of God and soul."

The Protestants and Catholics I surveyed in this small anecdote responded in like and varying manner. After all, as one Presbyterian observed, "at the name of Jesus...." Without the name, there cannot be religion, religion itself being language-based and rooted in the language domain of mind. Ergo, I rather favor the Orthodox rabbi's response, as above.

Taken together, these interesting responses suggested to me why Pirandello's play's theme is a part of mankind. The Wiki in part summarizes: " The theme is conflicting versions of the truth told by the main characters, each of whom claims the other is insane." Substitute "religious" for "insane," and we can summarize the conundrum.

"Each claims the other is...."

With respect, your remark "Like Protestantism, Judaism is highly fragmented" could be perhaps too general. Protestantism is itself wildly fragmented. If you wish more source material, I would happily offer citations.

One reads: "The majority of contemporary Protestants are members of Adventism, Anglicanism, the Baptist churches, Calvinism (Reformed Protestantism), Lutheranism, Methodism and Pentecostalism. Nondenominational, Evangelical, charismatic, neo-charismatic, independent, Convergence, and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. This list gives only an overview, and certainly does not mention all of the Protestant denominations. The exact number of Protestant denominations, including the members of the denominations, is difficult to calculate and depends on definition. A group that fits the generally accepted definition of 'Protestant' might not officially use the term."

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations#Protestant

So this returns to your assertion that, as an example, Unitarians are not Protestant. The question is one of definitions, it seems.

One reads: "Unitarianism and Universalism began as independent traditions emerging from the liberal Protestant Reformation period of the Christian faith."

See: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/christianity-unitarianism-and-universalism

Lastly, to add to the general diffuse nature of the topic, you assert "Only leaving Judaism for Christianity, Islam, or some other religion is the point of separation." And yet the "Jews for Jesus is an international Christian missionary organization headquartered in San Francisco, California that is affiliated with the Messianic Jewish religious movement."

So one is brought back the Gordian knot of defining religion and religious differences. This is why I mentioned the title of the Pirandello play.

Best wishes with the sincere expectation that your particular faith may be strengthened, while others in the Judeo-Christian world who might differ from your faith may as well.

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