Message from Playwright/Performer
Sam Sherman
to D.C. Audience

Hey everyone,

     Sam here. I couldn’t be more grateful to be bringing kaddish (how to be a sanctuary) to my beloved DC as well as back to Europe. Our experiences last year in Philadelphia and Edinburgh were both exhilarating and profoundly meaningful. We can’t wait to see what London (https://weareoldred.co.uk/whats-on/kaddish-how-to-be-a-sanctuary/) and Prague (https://www.praguefringe.com/programme/kaddish-how-to-be-a-sanctuary/) have in store for us. Working on this project with some of my closest friends and such a stellar team has been the privilege of a lifetime. I hope it would have made Grandpa Saul proud.

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     All this being said, returning to kaddish is bittersweet for me. A few weeks ago, I returned to the United States from a three-month solidarity initiative in Masafer Yatta (South Hebron Hills), part of Area C of the occupied West Bank, as a member of the 2026 Hineinu cohort (“Hineinu” is a Hebrew word meaning “ we are here.”) with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence. Since my initial experience doing protective presence in 2024, the situation has gotten much, much worse. My comrades in Palestine remain steadfast in their nonviolent resistance efforts, but the threats to their lives and homes are only increasing, and at a frightening rate. Despite being double the size of a typical Hineinu cohort, we faced increased repression with our Palestinian partners on the ground. On top of this, the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran and Lebanon severely complicated our efforts; it has been used as a pretext by Israel to escalate violence against Palestinians, who are routinely deprived of any right to effectively defend themselves. As we concluded our work, many of the children I came to know and care for in the village of Umm al-Khair have been actively prevented from attending school for weeks now by the Israeli military. Hanady Hathaleen, a community leader, mother of three, and widow of martyr Awdah Hathaleen, has written for Vashti Media on these recent developments. I’d strongly encourage you to read her piece, and I’ve also included a link with ways to support the residents of Masafer Yatta (https://supportmasaferyatta.com/) organized by Palestinian activists and CJNV.

     As Hanady’s writing should make clear, my friends in Palestine don’t have time. They certainly can’t afford to have to continuously perform their humanity for people continents and oceans away. It is my greatest hope that kaddish, in spite of the very real limitations faced by any work of art in times such as these, might become a vehicle for amplifying their stories, building networks of transnational solidarity, and unearthing histories lost in the discord and pretenses of the post-war era as we look to broaden the public imagination regarding the political possibilities in this moment. It’s a herculean task, but that’s why your support is crucial – now more than ever. This play asks all of us to go deeper than we may have ever gone before. I am incredibly grateful for those who have championed our work on kaddish thus far, and insist that we all dedicate ourselves however we can to assisting my comrades abroad in their struggle for true dignity and justice.
I sincerely hope you can join us on May 9th in DC, or for our performances in London and Prague in the coming weeks!

With love and strength,
Sam (szmul)